Wales

Contact
Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative

Iris Hopkins 
Trustee/ Hon Secretary

South Wing / Siston Court
UK - South Glos BS169LU
Phone: +44-117 9372 109
Email: irishopkins@btinternet.com
Homepage: http://www.whsi.org.uk
About the organisation
The Initiative was launched in 1990, under the auspices of the Institute of Welsh Affairs at the National Museum and Gallery Cardiff, and was subsequently registered as an independent Charitable Trust. From the beginning, its major sponsors were Sir Julian Hodge (Jane Hodge Foundation) and the Western Mail. They were joined later by other sponsors who provided generous grants and prizes for schools. In 2000, Alcatel sponsored the setting up of the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative's website, and HSBC, and Western Power became the other new major sponsors.

The Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative is run by a group of unpaid volunteers: history teachers, heads of schools, university professors, schools' inspectors, museum officers, archivists, television and radio programs producers and businessmen. Thus, they provide a wide range of expertise and representation of the Initiative.

The aim of the Initiative is to encourage young people in primary and secondary schools in Wales to take greater interest in their heritage and the contribution made to it by their families and communities and to help and preserve their own heritage. We hope to advance the education of young people in Wales through the study of its history and culture.
The history competition
Each year, the Welsh Heritage Initiative Committee invites infant, primary and secondary schools to undertake heritage projects and to submit them for the nation-wide heritage competition. These projects require research, collection of materials, analysis and evaluation. They may result in booklets, exhibitions, performances, restoration and other forms of contribution to heritage. Young peoples' work is assessed, taking also into account the appropriate level of literacy, numeracy, and information technology skills. Pupils are encouraged to involve their community and people of different generations in their projects and to disseminate their findings. All schools entering the competition are visited by judges and prizes are awarded for the best projects in each category: infant, primary and secondary schools. These prizes are presented by the sponsors who donated them at an Awards Ceremony.
Requirements
The competition is open to young people aged from 5 to 18. All schools in Wales are invited to enter the National Competition. Entries have to be group projects. They may be undertaken by a class of children or even a whole school. The topic chosen and the nature of the project will have a bearing on how the students will present their findings. Competition entries from schools are accepted in English or in Welsh and in one or more of the following formats:

  • Written material, e.g. an illustrated history booklet/pamphlet or newspaper, a tourist/history trail or historical map/poster;
  • Recording e.g. film, video, audio tape;
  • Exhibition e.g. a collection of artefacts or documentary evidence put on dis­play;
  • Model e.g. a three-dimensional object, scale model or craft product based on historical research;
  • Information Technology e.g. the creation of databases/web sites or presentation.
Jury
Entries in different formats and on a wide range of topics are difficult to compare, judge and rank in an order of merit for the award of prizes. To achieve as much uniformity in assessment, judges are given detailed guidelines and mark sheets, agreed on by the committee beforehand. Each school that had submitted a project for the competition is visited by two judges. They have the opportunity to see the project and to discuss it with the students. Marks are awarded out of 100 under the following headings:

  1. Content [10 marks] (Originality and Local relevance)
  2. Process : Research and Collection of Material [40 marks] (Use of primary sources; use of secondary sources; visits to people, institutions, sites)
  3. Analysis, Evaluation and Presentation [40 marks] (assessment of understanding of historical process and skills used by pupils; presentation of findings)
  4. Impact [10 marks] (local and/or national dissemination and communication, e.g. exhibition at a local library or web site)
  5. Total [=100 marks]
Award
The number and value of prizes varies slightly from year-to-year, depending on what the sponsors had donated. For some years, the top prizes have ranged from € 1.600 - 2.500. In all, some 40 prizes are awarded annually. They may be in cash or in kind, e.g. digital camera. All prizes are presented by sponsors to schools' representatives at an Awards Ceremony. Each year, it is held at a pre­stigious venue, in a different part of Wales. Exhibition of the winning projects is held each year. The Millennium Touring Exhibition was open to the public at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Bodelwyddan Castle, North Wales, National Museum of Wales and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff, Swansea Museum, West Wales