Pupils from Tongwynlais Primary School recently visited Castell Coch to take part in Cadw’s newly-launched Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 activities.
The children were guided round the castle by Lady Bute who explained how it was built and what life was like for rich Victorians. They also played a specially-designed interactive Victorian board game to teach them about life in nineteenth-century south Wales.
Cayla Brown, 10, was one of the first to trial the board game. She said: “I liked the game. It is really good for people to play and learn more about history at the same time.”
The game can be downloaded from Cadw’s website.
Lady Bute at @Castell_Coch. pic.twitter.com/G7YRjbFKJA (via @AdrienneGood)
— Tongwynlais.com (@mytongwynlais) November 20, 2014
Cadw have developed high quality free online resources for teachers to tie in with the school curriculum.
Sue Mason, Head of Lifelong Learning for Cadw, said, “These exciting new education activities and resources aim to bring the fascinating stories behind our historic buildings and the characters who lived in them to life as a way of engaging pupils with their local heritage, and to support the teaching of subjects such as history alongside numeracy and literacy skills and the curriculum Cymreig.
“Learning at site gives pupils the chance to be transported back to a period in history making it a living lesson. Authentic experiences aid not just their understanding of a subject but also their retention of information.”
The Meet Lady Bute tour at Castell Coch must be booked in advance. The half day activities cost £90 per group, for up to 30 pupils.
Image credit: Cadw.
