PUPILS from St Begh’s and Monkwray junior schools celebrated their communities this week.
A ‘Celebrating Connecting Communities’ event was held at The Beacon Museum on Monday (November 4) which brought pupils together with researchers from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to raise awareness of the role and impact of social sciences.
The pupils explored how they can play an active role in their own local community and were encouraged to think about what their area means to them, and what feelings arose when thinking of their local environment.
The groups used surveys, community mapping exercises, conversations and art-work in a series of workshops throughout the day, which encouraged the children to think about what was important to them.
The findings will be used as part of an ongoing research project by the university which aims to understand how people are connected to each other and how this can be used to help build better communities.
The event is being sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council and is one of 450 events taking place across the UK, which aim to raise awareness about how social science affects everyday life.
Suzanne Wilson, Research Fellow in Social Inclusion and Community Engagement, University of Central Lancashire, said: “It was a privilege to work alongside such enthusiastic young people who have so many exciting ideas to help strengthen their community. I hope we have introduced the idea of going to university to study social science and inspired the next generation of young social scientists of the future!”
Alan Gillon, Learning Officer at The Beacon Museum, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity for The Beacon Museum to host the Celebrating Connected Communities event with UCLan.
“The museum is at the very heart of the people, and through the collections we are able to tell the stories of the diverse local community we have in West Cumbria, from thousands of years ago to the present day.
“The event has helped to break down the barriers around social science and challenged the pupils to think about their landscape and local community.”
