Strata Florida Project

Background

Leadership in education at Strata Florida is offered by the School  of Archaeology, History and Anthropology.  This is being undertaken with full regard for the lifelong learning and widening access agenda of the Welsh Government as expressed in the policy document, The Learning Country.  There is also a consciousness of what is called the ‘third mission’ in the tertiary education sector, which is broadly aimed at the support of the economy and social life of the Welsh regions.

Photo: Formal Education: Undergraduate teaching.
Enlargement/description

There are four principal layers of education initiative which we are aiming for at Strata Florida:

1. accredited undergraduate and postgraduate courses designed within the framework of degree programmes and conducted in term time; http://www.lamp.ac.uk/archanth/allarchanth.htm
2. accredited widening access and foundation programmes offered at pre-degree level;
3. a summer school conducted in the vacation available for both internal Lampeter and external students as well as other interested parties – this will be available both as accredited and non-accredited programmes;
4. the Abbey School programme  of school experience days and half-days targeted at various key stages of the National Curriculum under the guidance of LEAs and teachers, supported by teacher induction sessions, information packages, school visits and after-school clubs.

The experience of all these programmes will be centred around the historical resource which Strata Florida and its landscape represents.  The educational programmes will also be conducted within the operation of the long-term research programme.  This work will be appropriate for a variety of National Curriculum and other school courses, including history, geography, environmental studies, sciences, religious studies, mathematics, art and literature studies, all in the context of Welsh culture and language.  The research programme will also generate, as an educational, social and economic resource, a publicly accessible archive of information as well as both popular and academic publications, deploying a range of media.

Photo: Formal Education: Teaching.

To support this undertaking a dedicated educational facility will be created within the framework of the development proposed for Mynachlog Fawr.  This will include also commercial courses and residential programmes designed to inform visitors to the region with a potentially wide range of interests.

The education programme will be closely related to a wider concern to promote the site in relation to tourism, social identity, conservation and sustainability which are key concerns of the Welsh Assembly Government.  This comes under the heading of interpretation which today engages the visitor and member of the local community alike in a variety of different ways and through multi-media platforms.  These are much more highly interactive than the previous static exhibitions and will include internet sites, digital media, guided walks, story-telling, participation, events, performances and installations.  The subject matter will not simply be the narratives centred on the Abbey such as those related to the Welsh Princes and the history of monasticism in Wales, but also to the inspirational and spiritual landscapes of its large and beautiful hinterland.  We hope to undertake this in partnership with Cadw, as well as with the Countryside Council for Wales, the Forestry Commission Wales and Ceredigion County Council through Communities First and other initiatives.

The Abbey School programme

In 2011 the Wales National Dig hosted visits by Years 4/5 seven local primary schools in the Tregaron cluster.  Each school participated in excavation, finds handling, graveyard survey, and exploring old buildings; more than 80 children took part.  Evaluation of the experience by the schools has led to an enhanced programme for 2012, where classroom visits by university staff and students in the spring term  will start the children thinking about the site in advance of the summer  on-site acitivites and porvide a chance to use the theme or archaeology for teaching across the curriculum.     

Photo: Interpretation: Storytelling.

Photo: Interpretation: Handling the Past.

Photo: Interpretation: New viewpoints.

Photo: Interpretation: Event.

Photo: Interpretation: Performance.

The Abbey School Programme 2012

The Abbey School Programme gives primary schools in the Tregaron cluster the opportunity to participate in the research and excavation programme at Strata Florida.

Classroom sessions

Site activities