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Training services and educational work 2006
ESAMP
has been providing heritage and environmental training since 1984. Alongside this
ESAMP also runs a diverse public archaeological education programme. During 2006
ESAMP built on this existing work and developed new key opportunities for local
people to participate and work in their local cultural and environmental heritage.
Training
and voluntary work
During
2006 ESAMP provided thirty high quality training and volunteer placements for
local people who were not in work. These training placements were run in partnership
with the Countryside Management Group of the County Council, The Sussex Archaeological
Society and the Brighton and Hove Museums Service. The volunteer opportunities
were part financed by the European Union under a new transnational partnership
programme which ESAMP has developed with a French archaeological organization
- ASNAPIO. This two year programme is designed to help the general public in East
Sussex and Nord Pas de Calais have better access and enhanced understanding of
their cultural heritage. It will also support ESAMP's professional development
as a cultural heritage training and educational organization and it will support
our work supporting local people who want to work in the fields of archaeology
and museums.
During 2006 over
75% of the people who participated in the training and voluntary work moved into
employment at the end of their time with ESAMP.
Schools'
education programme
During
2006 ESAMP has offered a rich and diverse public and schools education programme.
There were three major strands to ESAMP's schools work in 2006. In January to
March ESAMP worked in partnership with Brighton Museum on an exciting outreach
partnership. This involved taking a range of local Saxon grave goods and skeletal
material into local schools and enabling the children to have a high level of
direct access to this material. They were encouraged to investigate and interpret
the material in a wide variety of ways. This work complemented ESAMP's existing
archaeological outreach programme which we offered to a number of schools. We
also carried out two major reconstruction building projects with schools in Moulsecoomb
and Polegate. These projects involved simulated excavations, the building of reconstruction
Iron age roundhouses and a rich supporting programme of craft activities. The
buildings are long term educational resources for the schools and ESAMP aims to
work with the schools to develop further historical learning programmes and events.
Public
education programme
2006 was
very exciting year for ESAMP in the range and nature of the public education events
which we organized and participated in. This ranged from building a Saxon house
in the Museum of London to designing and running a brand new ancient technologies
course for Sussex University. During 2006 ESAMP worked with over 20 000 members
of the public as part of its events programme.
Details
of the schools and public education programme are given below.
Late
Saxon Building
constructed in the new Medieval Gallery of the Museum of London
Location:
Museum of London
Date: April 2006
Participants: General Public and two local
schools
ESAMP has a long standing
relationship with the Museum of London and has successfully carried out commissions
for the museum on a number of occasions. ESAMP worked alongside specialists from
the museum to reconstruct a late Saxon building in the new Medieval galleries
which have recently opened at the museum. ESAMP was responsible for the design
and construction of the roof, the daubing of the building and the running of a
public participation education programme. This programme involved many local school
children in the building programme and significant public access work. This commission
gave very positive exposure to ESAMP's work in a nationally known museum.
May Day Celtic Festival
Location:
Michelham Priory
Date: 30th April & 1st May 2006
Participants: General
Public / family groups
This
is an annually held, two day public event located at ESAMP's Iron Age Activity
centre at Michelham Priory. The event is designed to show people (through a series
of engaging practical activities) what life might have been like for people living
in the Iron Age in Sussex. This event was initially designed and set up by ESAMP
and has been run every year for the last fifteen years in partnership with the
Sussex Archaeological Society. On average two thousand five hundred people attend
the event each year.
Shinewater
Bronze Age Event
Location:
Shinewater Park
Date: 7th May
Participants: General public /family groups
Shinewater
Park in Eastbourne contains one of the most exciting archaeological wetland sites
anywhere in Britain. Simon Hickmott, Environment Group Manager coordinated an
environmentally themed event on the site over the weekend of the 7t May. ESAMP
supported this through a series of workshop which illuminated the archaeological
and paleo-environmental story told by the waterlogged Bronze Age remains found
on the site. ESAMP's activities were designed to allow public engagement with
their local archaeological heritage. A significant factor relating to this very
popular event was that the public audience primarily consisted of local families,
many of whom might not ordinarily attend heritage or environmental events. Again
a very strong element was how positive this audience was in relation to the fact
that their locality was home to such a significant archaeological site. It is
likely that this work will be built on in the future.
Brighton
Museum Family Archaeology & Schools Outreach Programme
Location:
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Date: February - March and Museum open day
May 20th
Participants: General Public/family groups. (The whole project involved
three local schools and over 700 children.)
During
2006 ESAMP was commissioned by Brighton Museum to take some of the wonderful archaeological
collections held by the museum out into the local community over a six month period.
This involved ESAMP in working with a number of local schools in Brighton and
Eastbourne. ESAMP was given unique access to Saxon artifacts which we then took
out into the local community. The educational programme also involved a family
event organized in partnership with Brighton Museum, The Brighton and Hove Archaeological
Society and ESAMP. This family centered day allowed people to examine Saxon, prehistoric
and Roman material through a series of fun stimulating workshops held in the museum.
The event was attended by several hundred people.
Archaeology
Family Days
Location:
Lewes Castle & Anne of Cleves House Museum
Dates: 16th July, 22nd August,
24th & 26th October 2006
Participants: General Public /family groups
As
part of its partnership with the Sussex Archaeological Society ESAMP has run four
family events with archaeological themes at Lewes castle and Anne of Cleves House
Museum. These wonderful historical settings provided an excellent backdrop for
the archaeological education workshops which ESAMP runs.
Ancient
Crafts & Technologies Summer school - for the University of Sussex
Location:
Michelham Priory
Date: 25th-29th July 2006
Participants: 15 students from
CCE
This is an ESAMP course
run in partnership with the Sussex Archaeological Society and the Centre for Continuing
Education at Sussex University. It is held at Michelham Priory and attracts people
from across the UK. Participants are taught a very wide range of ancient crafts
by ESAMP staff and trainees. The course is recognized as being unique nationally
in its scope and quality. This is the fifteenth year which the course has been
offered. This course has been running for 15 years.
Polegate
Iron Age Roundhouse Project
Location:
Polegate School
Date: July 2006
Participants: Students & Staff
ESAMP
is always particularly keen to work with local school on long term educational
projects. During July 2006 ESAMP spent two weeks working with almost four hundred
children from Polegate School, on the construction of an Iron Age house. The building
is a long term educational resource for the school. The building work, which involved
children at all stages, was complimented by an excavation and object recording
programme and a very diverse range of related craft activity workshops.
Woodfair
Location:
Bentley wildfowl & Motor Museum
Date: 15th-17th September 2006
Participants:
General Public/family groups (over 10,000 visitors)
ESAMP
has had a continual presence at Woodfair for the last ten years. Woodfair is one
of the largest environmentally themed events of its type in the UK. ESAMP presents
a variety of demonstrations and activities over the three days. Our work and reconstructed
buildings are designed to show people the rich tradition of early building types
in Britain and to allow the public to explore the rich tapestry of everyday skills,
knowledge and crafts which were commonplace in the past. This year's Woodfair
was the largest ever and ESAMP ran a very wide range of workshops and displays
for school groups and families.
Ancient
Crafts and Early Buildings Course
Location:
Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum
Date: 24th-28th July
Participants: 15
students through CCE
ESAMP
is always seeking to develop new courses and learning opportunities. ESAMP set
up and ran a brand new course for Sussex University this year. The course was
held at the ESAMP site at the Bentley Museum this September. The week long course
involved students in an Iron smelt based on local Roman evidence and the reconstruction
of a Bronze Age house. The course involved ESAMP in developing new and innovative
teaching frameworks. The course was very well received by the students and will
be run again next year.
Pumphouse
Museum Saxon Building
Location:
Pumphouse Museum, London
Date: October 2006
Participants: 5 local schools
& community groups
ESAMP
worked in partnership with the Pumphouse Museum in Rotherhithe, London, to develop
a reconstruction project at the Museum. The museum is set in a nature reserve
and the Museum Manager Caroline Marais heads up an education programme which is
offered to many thousands of local schoolchildren every year. ESAMP worked in
partnership with the Museum and five local schools and a number of community groups
to build a Saxon craft building in the grounds of the nature reserve. The building
is a permanent resource for the museum and the local community.
Hove
Museum Interactive Archaeological Gallery
Location:
Hove Museum
Date: October 2006
Participants: General Public
ESAMP
was commissioned by Brighton Museum to help design and build an interactive archaeological
gallery which opened at the end of October 2006. The gallery is designed to show
the work of the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society and how archaeologists
discover, record and interpret archaeological sites. The exhibition will run for
six months.
Moulsecoomb
School Iron Age Roundhouse
Location:
Moulsecoomb School, Brighton
Date: November 2006
Participants: Students
& Staff
In November ESAMP
worked with three hundred children and the staff from Moulsecoomb school to build
a reconstruction Iron Age roundhouse. This project ran for two weeks and involved
not only all the children in the school but also a number of family and community
groups. The building will be a long term resource for the school and the local
community.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
In
2006 ESAMP began a two year partnership programme with a French heritage organisation,
ASNAPIO, based in Lille. This common cultural heritage project is part funded
by the European Union through an Interreg IIIa grant. Through this project we
will create a number of new volunteer positions in the archaeological and museums
based areas of our work.
