Cavendish Histories
– Making Childhood Memories
Cavendish Histories is an intergenerational learning project based in the catchment area of Cavendish Primary School, East Hull. The idea has been created by Adrian Chappell who was a pupil at the school between 1954-1958.
Cavendish Histories explores how the catchment area around the school has changed since the 1950s and what it’s like for pupils to grow up in this community today. One underlying theme explores shifting perceptions of children’s play across generations – what it is, how it works, what it means and where it takes place (then and now). To do this Adrian and his team (a visual artist and a writer) are creating an educational project with Cavendish pupils, their parents, grandparents and others who have long experience of living and working in this community. The project will include off-site visits in the catchment area (eg. care homes) and in the city (eg. the Hull History Centre).
Cavendish Histories has three linked areas of enquiry: (a) mapping the geographies of the catchment area from the 1950s to the present day with an emphasis on visual memory mapping and story-telling; (b) mapping family trees; and (c) mapping pupils’ leisure time enthusiasms – their music, TV, film, social media, fashion, sport through to hobbies/past times etc.
Cavendish Histories takes place during the next school academic year (2019/20). In partnership with teachers, the creative team will provide pupils with a range of data-collecting methods: fieldwork, interview methods, photography and drawing, site visits and areas of interest within the catchment area. Following an exhibition at the school, and an evaluation of the process and learning outcomes, the project will transfer to a city centre venue where it would be disseminated to other primary schools in Hull. An illustrated anthology will be published after the project.
