Engaging Places supports teaching and learning through buildings and encourages children to connect with their local heritage and architecture 
(13/08/2010)
Discover Greenwich, the new contemporary cultural venue in the heart of Maritime Greenwich, has launched its first temporary exhibition Engaging Places’ Unforgettable Lessons. The exhibition runs until 31 August 2010 in Discover Greenwich’s temporary gallery space.
Engaging Places is a web-based teaching resource led by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in conjunction with English Heritage to support teaching and learning through buildings and places and encourage children to connect with their local heritage and architecture as part of the school curriculum. Unforgettable Lessons follows the journey of 12 groups of young people who have been thinking about their local area; how it has developed, how people have shaped their place and how the place has shaped them.
The 12 Engaging Places projects being exhibited have been developed by teachers in partnership with local cultural learning providers across England. Two of the projects are based in Greenwich, one of which is being led by the Old Royal Naval College (ORNC). Working with Wingfield Primary School, the ORNC introduced Year Three pupils to the ORNC site and other landmark buildings in the area, such as Laban.
The pupils have been encouraged to record and observe the wider built environment, and then apply what they have learnt to the Ferrier Estate where the school is based. The Ferrier Estate is a run down area of Greenwich, undergoing a large regeneration project, causing huge upheaval. The pupils are being encouraged to consider how where they live and learn can become more beautiful, in the same way that past occupants of the ORNC altered and changed their site.
Duncan Wilson OBE, Chief Executive, The Greenwich Foundation said: “Using the built environment as a learning resource is the central tenet of the Greenwich Foundation’s learning strategy. Our workshops and projects aim to enable young people to understand and appreciate the amazing buildings of the Old Royal Naval College. Amethyst Class in Wingfield Primary School have been a delightful group of children to work with and the project has engaged them to look again at their school and local environment and the ways in which they can be changed for the better.”
Matt Bell, Director of Education and External Affairs, CABE said: “This exhibition is the result of giving young people the chance to learn through the built environment. It's a way to improve behaviour and raise achievement. But it's also about inspiring them to think differently about where they live and learn, and to believe they can really shape the look and feel of the buildings and the spaces all around them.”
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