Blog -experiential learning & history research finds

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Last week we had the pleasure of visiting the Museum of Gloucester on Brunswick Street. The Museum building follows the line of the old Roman wall, and even has its own mosaic under the carpet! We are delighted to be appointed to take a long look at the Museum's current popular Romans loan boxes and give them a refresh and a reframe to help engage with new schools. The loans boxes contain some wonderful original Roman fragments of glass, pottery, mosaics, wall plaster and iron ware. These items are supported with quality replicas such as the bespoke cemery urns created to represent the unique urns used by the twentieth legion who were based at Gloucester. Wherever they were stationed accross the Empire, these urns are found. It is believed that the soldiers attached some significance to eyebrows - maybe the idea that they made you look fierce in battle. You can find out more about the collection at the Museum of Gloucester here: (copy and paste) https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/whats-on/gallery/inside-museum-gloucesters-secret-behind-4465956 As anyone who loves history knows, stories are everywhere. Rachel's instinct as an experience youth leader told her that the pupils using the galleries would love to spot things which have meaning to them. We both opened the box of treasures as well as taking in the characters which had been created for a mural on the wall a few years ago. We saw connections to be made between the characters and objects. For children to experience self actualisation and the thrill of historical enquiry while engaged in object handling, it is effective to lay the emotional foundations. We wish them to care about the fragments of plastering in front of them, or the tiny part of a beautiful glass they hold. As such, I set about writing a story. We are passionate about the potential to link previously generated content with a new refreshed offer. The young slave boy in the wall mural of the Roman Gloucester gallery will now come alive in story and in other resources. We will use 'Topps Trumps' style cards to allocate one of six characters in Roman Glevum to the objects in the box. Imagining a day in the life of these people will provide answers to enquiry questions about why and how the objects were made. Why are some bowls decorative and some not? Which one would this politician at the Bath House use to eat his meal, and which one would this slave use? We can't wait to develop our characters and test the enquiry experience with some local pupils. Sketches of the citizens of Roman Glevum have begun and we will share more on the learning outcomes soon!