In collaboration with Cardiff Council’s Curriculum Team we recently took the “Wales: A Home from Home” multi-media exhibition into four Cardiff primary schools: Fairoak Primary School (Cathays), St John Lloyd Roman Catholic School (Rhymney), Ysgol Hamadryad (Cardiff Bay) and Moorland Primary School (Splott).
Over 5 days 280 children engaged with the exhibition. 124 pupils tried the immersive video -virtual reality, which limited to elder pupils. At three schools the exhibition was open to parents at the end of day. We had around 120 parent visitors with 28 trying the immersive video.
The different schools responded slightly differently as we were piloting and making some incremental changes as we went along. FairOak was probably deemed the most successful, in terms of engagement, as the entire school visited through-out the day, and all tried worksheets. Additionally there was a large take-up from the parents of the community. This was perhaps due to exceptional “buy-in” from the school with local advertising, SM posts and enthusiasm from the school lead.
Below we publish the evaluation feedback from several of the teachers involved.
In three of the four schools the multi media pop-up exhibition was opened to parents and public. With a very positive turnout and response.
The pilot was a great learning experience, which enabled us to guage what and where improvements can be made looking forward. Over-all we had a great response from pupils, teachers and public.
Thank you to Cardiff Council’s Curriculum Team (esp. Alan Thomas-Williams), the schools’ lead teachers / heads and Heritage Fund (Wales).
“Wales: A Home from Home” pop up exhibition has been an outstanding success, showcasing the rich multicultural history of Wales and the vibrant community we at Fairoak Primary are very proud to be part of. The exhibition brought together stories, traditions, and voices from many cultures………Our primary school children explored these stories with boundless enthusiasm, curiosity, and delight—asking questions, sharing reflections, and discovering connections between their own lives and the wider history of Wales. Our parents and the wider community joined us. Their interest and excitement filled the exhibition with energy, turning it into a living celebration of inclusion, respect, and unity. This event has left us proud, and more connected than ever, inspiring us to explore our own stories… To be honest it moved me to tears to see the community and children all in the same room, reading these incredible stories, finding an ownership and belonging. I don’t get many ‘this why I teach’ moments but this was one of them.” -Sue Watson, Fairoak Primary School, Cardiff.
Beautiful Stories- Truly Amazing to hear people’s experinces. We need to hear more tales like these. Stew Hall – Parent, Ysgol Hamadryad
What a wonderful exhibition. The VR sets were fabulous bringing it all to a life experience the different cultures celebrated. Parent, FairOak Primary
Wonderful stories to counter social division. Could we please extend the same couresy to English migrants! Chris Poole, Parent, Ysgol Hamadryad
Fantastic exhibition. It’s nice to see so many stories that our children can relate too. Parent, FairOak Primary
Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the diverse communities right on our doorstep through the medium of VR. Their enthusiasm was instantly captured and they fully embraced the learning opportunity. We opened the doors to our schools’ families and to the wider community to share in the experience of reading, learning and seeing the impact global majority communities have in Wales. As a proudly diverse Welsh medium school, it was brilliant to see our school community represented and to hear stories and shared reflections on our pupils and families’ own experiences. Alun Williams, teacher, Ysgol Hamadryad
(Cymraeg isod)
Ysgolion Caerdydd – Cymru: Cartref o Gartref – Gwerthusiad
Mewn cydweithrediad â Thîm Cwricwlwm Awdurdod Lleol Caerdydd, fe aethom yn ddiweddar â’r arddangosfa amlgyfrwng “Cymru: Cartref o Gartref” i bedair ysgol gynradd yng Nghaerdydd: Ysgol Gynradd Fairoak (Cathays), Ysgol Gatholig Rufeinig Sant Ioan Lloyd (Rhymni), Ysgol Hamadryad (Bae Caerdydd) ac Ysgol Gynradd Moorland (Sblot).
Isod rydym yn cyhoeddi adborth gwerthuso gan nifer o’r athrawon a fu’n rhan o’r prosiect.
Mewn tair o’r pedair ysgol, cafodd yr arddangosfa amlgyfrwng symudol ei hagor i rieni a’r cyhoedd. Roedd y peilot yn brofiad dysgu gwerthfawr, a’n galluogodd i asesu beth a ble y gellir gwneud gwelliannau wrth symud ymlaen. Yn gyffredinol, cawsom ymateb rhagorol gan ddisgyblion, athrawon a’r cyhoedd.
Diolch i Awdurdod Lleol Cwricwlwm Caerdydd (yn enwedig Alan Thomas-Williams), arweinwyr a phenaethiaid yr ysgolion, a Chronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri Genedlaethol (Cymru).
- ends
You must be logged in to post a comment.