By Richard Stainthorp
Many Reading-based organisations are keen to enrich the school curriculum – if any schools have specific requirements, I may be able to help, but here are two that could be applicable to any school.
Potts VC Trust Educational Outreach
We have run Trooper Potts Victoria Cross (VC) mornings for children at various schools. We start with students from Reading College explaining about the First World War, Gallipoli and the story of Trooper Fred Potts VC & Trooper Arthur Andrews. The Curators from the Berkshire Yeomanry Museum explain about Gallipoli and the story and the Yeomanry in general, they read out letters from the men at the front back home. The children are able to touch and try on kit of the period. We cover the meaning of Remembrance. We ask the children to do some work around the subject; drawing of the rescue of Fred Potts, to write a letter home to mum from the field hospital, to imagine they are a journalist writing up the story, to write a poem about the events. The students completing the best work are awarded a VC Certificate by the Brigadier of 94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Signal Squadron and Anne Ames – Fred Potts’ Granddaughter. At the end of the morning we run a shovel relay race to enable the children to understand how difficult the rescue would have been.
At senior schools we have delivered 10 minute presentations in Assemblies and 1 hour sessions for A level classes. For social clubs we deliver a 45 minute presentation.
For more information please contact Richard Bennett at [email protected].
The Rock Academy Foundation
We have over 5 years’ experience of running successful band experience programmes, after school clubs, music tech workshops, studio installs, ensemble sessions and graded guitar and drum courses for schools in the local area.
The Rock Academy Foundation is very keen to support schools in providing extra curriculum support for music composition, performance and graded exams in guitar, bass and drums.
For more information about our school support services please email [email protected].