A popular culture, heritage and registration venue has hosted more than 150 students as part of sessions aimed at encouraging them to consider a career in managing historical records.
Across three days, Durham County Council venue, The Story, hosted 154 Year 7 students from Tanfield School who heard from archivists and conservators about their roles in looking after the historic collections at the building.
Students were able to peek behind the scenes at the venue, which is home to five collections of historic records, documents and objects, including the DLI Collection. They were able to see how old documents are cared for and repaired before hearing about how they are curated and interpreted.
They were then able to handle some of the items and archive materials before learning about how they can be displayed and exhibited for people to see and enjoy.
Dr Catherine Quigley, assistant head teacher at Tanfield School, said: “We’d like to thank staff at The Story for their work in supporting Tanfield School’s careers provision, bringing workplaces and employability skills into sharp focus for Year 7 pupils as they plan their dream futures.”
The sessions were made possible through grants from The National Archives, after they were awarded Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport funding from the Discover! Creative Careers programme.
This funding has allowed The National Archives to award eight grants of £1,600 to archives across England to enable them to engage with schools, potentially for the first time.
21