The Rochdale Pioneers Museum goes to St Peter’s Primary School
Rochdale schoolchildren used historic objects and documents to find out about the origins of the co-operative movement during an outreach day at St Peter’s Primary School last week.
As part of the International year of Co-operatives celebration in the town, Outreach officers from the Co-operative Heritage Trust worked with 60 students to learn about the lives of the Rochdale Pioneers and use artefacts from the National Co-operative Archive and Rochdale Pioneers Museum to develop creative writing for their Rochdale Reports project.
Using photographs and information on the Pioneers, they worked co-operatively to answer questions and piece together stories based on the lives of the 28 men who started their first co-operative store on Toad Lane in 1844.
Students also learnt about what archives are used for. They played the role of detectives, unwrapping original and irreplaceable Archive objects and using them to tell stories.
ROCHDALE project Outreach officers Eve Broadhurst and Nancy Brown said: “The Rochdale Pioneers Museum will tell the story of the co-operative movement, which comprises millions of people. It has been great to share some of the objects and stories with the children and see them use this as inspiration to develop their own stories and learn about the unique role of The Rochdale Pioneers.”
The Rochdale Pioneers Museum is currently being refurbished and will reopen later this year.
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Filed Under: About • Our Heritage • Schools and Young People
Co-operative Learning