EPQ and A Level trip to The British library

On Wednesday 13 March, students from Mr Weldon’s Extended Project Qualification group, joined by other A level students, made a trip to the British Library in St Pancras for a ‘Research Matters’ workshop led by British Library staff, and designed particularly with EPQ students in mind.

After a brief tour of the library, including a visit to the Sir John Ritblat gallery, which contains treasures such as a 13^th century copy of the Magna Carta and Shakespeare’s First Folio, the students made their way to one of the library’s teaching spaces for a presentation, discussion and series of activities led by British Library staff Debbie Bogard and Arya Raval.

Debbie introduced the students to the library, explaining a little about its layout and informing us that it receives a copy of every single book published in the UK. Following a general discussion on what is meant by research and some of the problems it may be entail, the students were then led through a series of activities in which they looked at some alternatives to book research. They enjoyed seeing and consulting actual items such as old maps and newspapers, oral histories and voice recordings covering a range of literary and political topics.

The students were engaged at all times, were polite and responsive and made such a good impression that Debbie emailed me the next day saying “Thanks so much for bringing yourself and your wonderful students to the British Library this afternoon - what a fantastic bunch! It was so great to see their openness and curiosity around thinking and learning - a real credit to the school!”