Schools Heritage Competition 2004
Competition FrameworkThe second Schools Heritage Competition was announced by the Minister for Environment and Conservation, Hon John Hill, on 29 March 2004. With the theme Mapping Community Heritage, the 2004 competition offered five year-level categories (R-3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/9 & 10/12) and was open to all students from across the State. The inclusion of junior primary and secondary categories was a response to numerous requests following the inaugural 2003 competition. The Schools Heritage Competition is an annual event that encourages students to appreciate the diversity and significance of State and local built heritage. It also provides opportunities for students to link school curricula to a meaningful and rewarding project, and to apply modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to promote important heritage concepts. The format of entries is restricted to those generated by computer to link with the teaching of ICT in schools and to encourage the application of modern media in a celebration of heritage. The actual style of presentation and the software used is completely open. A package of materials outlining the aims of the competition, assessment criteria and suggested projects was distributed to all schools in late March. See Flyer (primary), Flyer (secondary), Support Notes, Registration Form and Entry Form (all 50Kb PDFs). To support teachers' understanding of the topic, a PowerPoint presentation, Understanding South Australia's Built Heritage (Parts 1 & 2) was developed to provide essential information about the concept of heritage, the State Heritage Register and the diversity of our built heritage. EntriesEntry registrations were received from 59 classes, representing 37 schools. The number and variety of registrations from country schools indicated the special appeal of this year's Community Mapping theme for rural communities. Teachers were asked to pre-judge their projects, submitting no more than 3 entries per class. This resulted in almost 80 entries eventually being received. The formats of these entries included PowerPoint, webpage, iMovie, Claris Works and Publisher. Students' projects showcased a wide variety of interests within their local area. It was refreshing for the judges to see and hear student voices, using their own words, to show their awareness of heritage issues. This went beyond research and presentation, as students needed to carefully state their intended audience for their entry. It was amazing, yet expected, that many entries were to be used by their local community to reflect the heritage in their local area. Some very polished entries tended to lose the individual student's voice as they focused too much on the quality of the final product, yet they were still a worthy reflection of heritage in their local area. Communities, schools, parents and students can be proud of the students' work. Whoever forgets the enriching experiences of going beyond the classroom? These students have begun the stepping stone to awareness of heritage issues and life-long learning about heritage in their community. A competition like this enables students to have a voice in their community. Competition Judge, Briar Newland - GTASA Secretary & GIS support person TSoF Teacher FeedbackThe Schools Heritage Competition is as much about the process as it is about the end product. Participating teachers were asked to complete a Feedback Sheet, outlining the types of learning activities which evolved from participation in the competition, as well as their thoughts about the educational benefits related to their class programs. Feedback was extremely positive, reinforcing the Heritage Branch's commitment to engaging students with their built heritage and the local community. Students investigated the built heritage of their school, the neighbourhood or town. They considered individual buildings, a 'set' of places related to a local identity, or groups of buildings within the local cultural landscape. Some visited cemeteries, others considered iconic places of significance to their community or family heritage. Classes liaised with local community members, Councils and relatives, and enjoyed guided tours of cemeteries, churches, hotels, ovals and more. Some classes followed walking tours, others delved into school archives, interviewed residents and school staff or sent out an 'SOS' for old photographs and information. Some groups took photographs, researched or designed brochures; others made models, collated resources for future community use or developed presentations now available in local visitor information centres or libraries.
Educational BenefitsThe 'mapping' of community heritage was widely interpreted, providing an exciting range of educational activities. Teachers were extremely positive about the educational benefits of their participation, with comments such as: LU, Loreto College Junior School: The children were very enthused by the idea of discovering the history of landmarks they had seen all their lives. They researched with such motivation that their knowledge has amazed me. ... It has contextualised their sense of belonging and civic identity to an overwhelming extent. KmcE, Miltaburra AS: Not only did they come up with particular areas but they almost solely researched, interviewed and produced the material. I was not familiar with putting a video on computer, let alone adding music, words and stills to it. Nor did I have any idea how to create a web page. However my students have since taught me! WB, Curramulka PS: students were very engaged because often they were working on such familiar sites, strengthening already strong community ties, involving parents, grandparents and extended families. RM, Tanunda Lutheran PS: students learned basic skills of gathering, collating and interpreting historical data. They began to appreciate the wealth of heritage contained in our local area. Parents were involved in supplementary information. KB, St Aloysius College: one of the main realisations was that history and heritage go together and that where we are now is because of what happened in the past. KK, Glen Osmond PS: the students used the local community to film their documentary and were able to induct their teacher into aspects of their local community heritage. SD, St Joseph's Murray Bridge: There were many educational benefits. Firstly, the project fitted in very well for achieving certain SACSA outcomes in the SOSE Learning Area. Throughout the project students needed to interact with a wide range of the community to research and create their CD-Rom. They further developed their problem-solving, note-taking, research and referencing skills. This project really drove home to students the importance of Murray Bridge's history and they gained an understanding of the diversity of heritage sites in the town. RO, St Joseph's Gladstone: I used this competition as an extension activity for a gifted and talented student in my class. The student has excellent literacy skills and a major interest in ICT. The competition provided skills in both areas and the student was highly motivated. Awards CeremonyOn 31 August 2004 the Minister for Environment and Conservation, Hon John Hill, presented prizes and certificates to the winners of the 2004 Schools Heritage Competition - Mapping Community Heritage. The ceremony, which included a viewing of the ten winning entries and a short presentation by the five Most Outstanding prizewinners, was held at the State heritage-listed Sunnybrae Farm (http://www.sunnybrae.com.au/) at Regency Park. Winning Entries in the 2004 Schools Heritage CompetitionYear R-3 Category
Year 4-5 Category
Year 6-7 Category
Year 9-10 Category
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