Awards highlight excellent education provision

The English Heritage Education team is pleased to announce that a further six properties have been awarded prestigious Sandford Awards for the excellence of their education provision. The awards will be presented at an annual awards event in November.

And the winners are:

Apsley House
Beeston Castle
Carisbrooke Castle
Lullingstone Roman Villa
Orford Castle
 Portland Castle

This brings the total number of Sandford award-winning English Heritage properties to 15 including Bolsover, Dover, Farleigh Hungerford, Goodrich and Pendennis Castles, Kenwood and Osborne Houses, Birdoswald Roman Fort and Wroxeter Roman City.

Entrants for Sandford Awards are assessed by a panel of independent Judges. The panel of Judges is drawn from professional educationalists including OFSTED Inspectors, former head teachers, education consultants and heritage property based education officers.

What the judges said:

Apsley House combines stunning interiors, a wealth of fascinating material relating to the life of The first Duke of Wellington, and an art collection significant in its own right. This is a valuable resource for schools wishing to flesh out the character of an icon of the Victorian age, and for younger pupils to gain an insight into the life of a servant in a grand house in the nineteenth century.

Lullingstone Roman Villa prompted this comment by a visiting teacher, ‘it could be boring, but it’s fantastic!’.  The ruined outlines of rooms, atmospherically lit, caught the imagination of the children.  They moved from area to area in some awe and there was no doubting that they were aware that they had seen the real thing.  Teachers can bring their pupils to this site secure in the knowledge that they will have an inspiring day out and one which will meet their teaching needs.

Beeston Castle is an impressive example of a medieval formidable fortress. It is unspoilt by obtrusive interpretation and is therefore a stimulating site for pupils to develop enquiry skills. What, When, How and Why? The questions that encourage pupils of all ages and abilities to use their senses and their imagination in the outdoor learning environment can and are being applied here.

Carisbrooke Castle has two well-researched and relevant Discovery Visits to offer.  Schools will have their day enhanced by the presenter, they will gain a greater understanding of aspects of the castle’s history and leave knowing things that would have been hard to discover on a self-guided tour.  The site is stunning and Mrs Wheeler and Sir John de Hevingham provided ‘a wonderful way of living history’, making this a day to remember for the children.

Orford Castle
The educational programmes at Orford Castle are supported by an excellent and varied range of learning resources and delivered by well-trained and enthusiastic staff. They enable pupils to understand the castle’s significance in the Middle Ages and help them learn more about the people who lived and worked in a castle like this and imagine what life might have been like for them.

Portland Castle is a superb place for heritage education.  Its situation, intact Tudor appearance and historical significance provide an excellent basis for a visit, but there is also a well-equipped education room, well-trained site staff and freelancers, with high levels of interactivity and creativity offered during the site’s Discovery Visits.  Backed up by the English Heritage professional education team, the service offered to schools at Henry VIII’s little fort is of a very high standard.