School Children Experience Conservation in Action
146 pupils from Oliver Tompkins Primary, Shaw Ridge Primary and Lydiard Tregoze Primary schools donned hard hats to discover conservation in action at St. Mary’s Church on a special school history day on 23rd July. Guided by St. Mary’s international conservation volunteers they discovered how the churches ancient wall paintings were being uncovered and why the volunteers had travelled from all over the world to work at St. Mary’s this summer.
Outside, Project Officer Charlotte Hollis had devised a round of fun activities including identifying bugs which harm historic objects. The conservation students showed how they used their tools and pupils enjoyed scratch cards to reveal paintings in the church.
Project Learning and Engagement Provider Charlotte Hollis said:
I was so pleased to see so many pupils engage with the fascinating process of conservation, and how and why we do it. They were astonished to learn that the conservation students teaching them had come from all over the world to work on the St Mary’s project. Many pupils seemed to have their eyes opened to a brand new potential career. I was very impressed with how many of the conservation students, for whom English is not their first language, created an exciting and welcoming environment for the children to indulge their curiosity.