The Royal Society of Edinburgh @ Dumfries & Galloway
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RSE @ Lochaber 2012-13 Summary Report 1. Overview The RSE @ Lochaber project was delivered across the region, from Mallaig in the north, to Kilchoan and Kinlochleven in the South and the Small Isles in the west, between September 2012 and October 2013. The programme included talks, lectures, exhibitions and workshops involving school children aged 6 to 18 years, college students and members of the wider public. The activities tapped into the knowledge and expertise of the RSE Fellowship and other relevant experts and those aimed at school children also had strong links to the curriculum. Many events involved a wide range of partners, including primary and secondary schools, the local college and local agencies / groups from within the area. The initiative aimed to enhance and improve the understanding and appreciation that people, particularly school aged children, have for their local community, by encouraging a sense of belonging to an area rich in cultural, natural and human resources. From the excellent feedback received, this was achieved and to enable wider dissemination, reports of public events were made available on the RSE web site and these are still available to download. 2. Outcomes of Project The RSE @ Lochaber project was a success and the number of events planned, were achieved. Events took place throughout the region with a good geographic spread. The attendance at individual events was often better than anticipated with 2,737 people attending overall. Comments from the local community indicated that attendance was similar to or higher than like events taking place in the region. The feedback from events was excellent and of the feedback received, 94% indicated that their learning and understanding of the subject had improved. Comments made by event attendees showed a lack of previous knowledge about the Royal Society of Edinburgh and little previous understanding of its remit and goals. As such, the presence of the RSE in Lochaber helped raise awareness of the Society’s activities. Postcode data showed attendees at events came from a wide area and, besides a couple of exceptions where individuals had travelled over 70 miles, it also showed that people rarely travelled too far from their immediate vicinity to attend events. Media coverage of events was good and improved from a previous RSE @ project in Dumfries and Galloway. Details of events and press releases were sent to local media, resulting in both editorial coverage and event listings. Some events were also attended by newspaper reporters and the RSE Christmas Lecture, held at Lochaber High School, was webcast live by BBC Scotland. In addition, a ‘Case review of the Appin murder’ event was covered by local and national media including BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Alba. We hope to build on this experience in the future. The initial impression of Lochaber being an area rich in cultural, natural and human resources was proven correct. Indeed, narrowing down the options for topics for public and school talk was challenging, with many equally valuable and deserving of inclusion. The programme was developed to reflect multi-disciplinarity and, in terms of schools events, to reflect the needs of the school curriculum. Written reports of the public events were made available on the RSE website, enabling those that could not attend to have access. These reports will remain on the RSE website to enable wider dissemination. Initially there was some difficulty in engaging local primary schools in the programme. This was addressed through meetings with the local Education Officer who helped to promote the RSE @ Lochaber programme to these schools. Many of the primary schools in the region had concerns because they were very small and had composite classes of mixed age groups. They were assured that the RSE @ Lochaber programme was interested in working with them, despite their small size, and workshops were specifically tailored to cater for them. Willingness amongst the RSE Fellowship and local and national organisations to be involved with the project was extremely high and we were encouraged by this. Indeed, the project could not have been possible without the support of project supporters- The Dulverton Trust, The James Weir Foundation, Beltane Public Engagement Network, RSE Sillitto Fund, RSE Heggie Fund RSE Fleck Fund, The Mackintosh Foundation, G M Morrison Charitable Trust and Scottish Book Trust – Live Literature Fund and the participation of all those who gave their time and energy in making it a success. Feedback showed the RSE @ project was a welcome presence in Lochaber: The Large Hadron Collider, the Higgs Boson and Other Questions about the Universe by Professor Peter Clarke FRSE, 20 September 2013, Ardnamurchan High School and West Highland College, Kilchoan “Professor Clarke explained the Large Hadron Collider in a way which was stimulating to pupils and teachers. The event was excellently managed…We hope that there will be further opportunities for guest speakers to come to AHS” Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe by Professor Martin Hendry, 2 November 2012, Ardnamurchan High School “… the students are STILL talking about the biscuit demo!” “MORE MORE MORE of the same!” The Journey to Gold – RSE Christmas Lecture by Katherine Grainger MBE, 11 December 2012, Lochaber High School “Katherine Grainger’s Christmas lecture, delivered in association with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was a memorable event. The presence of the BBC added to the sense of occasion and our pupils found Katherine engaging, humorous and inspiring. After the lecture, the young people had the opportunity to meet Katherine; get her autograph; take photographs and handle the gold medal”! Jim Sutherland, Head Teacher, Lochaber High School What will you do with the knowledge you have gained as a result of attending this event? My 9 year old daughter said :"to keep trying and never give up". My 11 year old son said : "to never think I know everything and to be able to take advice" “I will use Katherine's account in my teaching of pupils in my school, through my role as a teacher”. “I will go for my own wee goals. I've always wanted to run a sub 2.40 in the Ben Race and in 2013 I will”. “I used, and will continue to use, Katherine's story and example to inspire others in my work in Personal Development., and I would definitely attend another event”. Some general feedback “Events like this in a large, rural region with a scattered population are very special. As a programme of events sustained over a year, this was so precious and highly valued.” “Educational and enjoyable, without having to travel to a city”. “We really appreciated the expertise of the speakers who were all leaders in their field. All the lectures were thought provoking and it is always good to exercise the grey cells. We attended quite a few of the lectures and as time went on we enjoyed the social aspect of them as well”. “Quality of speakers was excellent. They gave local people the chance to attend events they would not normally have access to”. “…Every lecture was a new topic and a different perspective, supplied by some of the best brains in the land! This in itself was enormously stimulating and enlightening, particularly as the focus was on the Lochaber region”. “Congratulations for a superb programme. I had no prior knowledge of the RSE and you are to be commended for the outreach activities”. “Further RSE events in Lochaber would be hugely welcome". 3. The Legacy An increase in learning and understanding Post event evaluations confirmed that the learning and understanding of the majority of people who attended events was increased. There were many positive and supportive comments from attendees for both individual events and indeed the overall concept and programme. It was also evident that an RSE presence via future events in the region would be welcomed (see below – The Reaction). Key features contributing to the success of the project included the choice of topics being of relevance and interest (following local research and consultation); enthusiastic participation of RSE fellows; a co-ordinator with local knowledge of the region and invaluable financial support from project sponsors enabling events to be free of charge to the public. It is hoped that there will be many legacies from the RSE @ Lochaber project, some of which are already evident: Tapestries depicting Lochaber’s culture and heritage have been displayed at the West Highland Museum. These were created by pupils at Upper Achintore and Fort William primary schools, inspired by the RSE @ Lochaber primary workshop activity focused on creating heritage trails for the area. The Pitch Perfect enterprise event at Lochaber High School has become the springboard for a new local event - Dragon's Glen. Pupils, along with local businesses have been invited to prepare a business proposal for the local area. Once they have done this, the 2nd and 3rd stages involve preparing a business plan and doing a presentation - the prize for the winner is £1,000. Local entrepreneurs who took part in the Pitch Perfect event also intimated that they are willing to repeat the experience at other schools. The majority of those who attended the Public Talks stated that their knowledge of the subjects covered had increased thus leading to enhanced knowledge within the region of a variety of topics. The RSE @ Lochaber programme has been instrumental in raising awareness within the region of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and its remit and objectives. Lochaber schools have been made aware of the RSE Young People’s programme and it is hoped that the RSE may be able to deliver future School’s Talks and Workshops in the region.