Julie to peddle Warwickshire’s past
Warwickshire County Council’s Heritage Education service has welcomed a new operational manager with a remit to promote its resources to young and old alike.
Julie Morrey, an arts graduate and former teacher, has joined the county council from Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum where she was head of education.
She will now take responsibility for managing group visits of schools to museum and heritage sites and for outreach work which sees museum teaching staff go into schools with artifact handling collections and other resources.
In the new year, Julie will also be working on increasing the take up of adult learning though heritage’s resources. There are various ways that this will be done including via workshops, talks and activities for community groups, clubs and societies. Museum workshops can also be put on in day centres and nursing and residential homes.
Julie says: “I am thrilled to be in Warwickshire and to have the chance to work with the long, celebrated heritage that the county has.
“I am looking forward to making sure that the resources that we have for heritage education are used by as wide a cross section of the county as possible.
“Clearly, they play a vital role in supporting various key stages of the National Curriculum. However Warwickshire’s Heritage provides a great stimulus for life-long learning and so I am also determined to increase awareness of our resources among older users who find activities which delve into our past to be richly rewarding.”
St John’s Museum has a wealth of resources for children, all linked to the curriculum. A kitchen recreates life in Victorian times with children able to try laundry. Authentic Victorian costumes are on hand and a Victorian schoolroom can be created at the museum.
Other eras where the Heritage Education service is able to support the school curriculum include Roman times – where aspects of Roman life including costume and food are explored through artefacts, pottery and costume sessions – the jewellery, language and weapons of Anglo Saxon times, the Tudor buildings around Warwick and the costumes and the objects and jobs of the Ancient Egyptians.
The service is also able to support National Curriculum Science with workshops on rocks and fossils based at Cross Hands Quarry and a ‘Woodland Safari’ at Oversley Wood exploring plants and animals in a woodland habitat in south-west Warwickshire.
Details of the resources of Heritage Education are available at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/heritageeducation
Schools and community groups who would like to be involved in heritage activities can call Julie on 01926 412069.