H 5 · Scottish Executive and Historic Scotland
Role of the Scottish Executive
Historic Scotland, an Agency of the Scottish Executive Education Department was created in 1991 with a mission statement: ‘To safeguard the Nation’s built heritage and to promote its understanding and enjoyment.’ As well as undertaking statutory listing duties, the Agency has in its care over 300 historic buildings and sites, around 70 of these staffed, throughout Scotland.
Historic Scotland aims to provide access to the properties in its care for the widest possible audience. This reflects Scottish Ministers’ expectations that the cultural sector will play a full part in promoting inclusion, enhancing the quality of people’s lives and creating an effective learning environment.
Opportunities for informal learning are offered through a range of interpretation media available at the properties and the programme of historic events held throughout Scotland. Aimed at the Scottish family audience, these events bring the properties to life with historical re-enactments including jousting and mediaeval camp life; falconry presentations; music and drama. Many of the events offer the opportunity for hand-on activities.
Historic Scotland Education Unit
The Education Unit has developed from modest beginnings throughout the 1990s to consist today of a staff of six, including two Education Officers dedicated to major sites, Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle.
Traditionally tasked with providing learning opportunities for formal education, mainly schools, the Education Unit produces a range of resource materials to give focus to teacherled visits to sites. In addition, at selected sites each year, Historic Scotland offers a varied programme of activities for school groups. There is a small charge for these activities, which include themed tours, costumed roleplay, drama, storytelling, re-enactments, art and design, traditional crafts, medieval music and dancing. The Education Unit also aims to engage children in schools all over Scotland.
As the Unit has grown so has its remit. It now aims to encourage imaginative use of the built environment as an educational resource for learners of all ages in nurseries, school, colleges, universities and communities across Scotland. The free educational visits scheme, open to all these groups, attracts more than 60,000 learners a year and helps to fulfil Historic Scotland’s commitment to social justice.
The Education Unit undertakes a number of special projects each year with different partners. These target a range of audiences and often support national campaigns or initiatives. Developing sustainable partnerships is a key objective. Partnership with Careers Scotland has resulted in a series of Careers Days for secondary school children, highlighting the range of careers available to pupils in the heritage sector. Careers Scotland are also responsible for the teacher placement scheme, Excellence in Education through Business Links, from which Historic Scotland has benefited, passing on these benefits to teachers and pupils throughout Scotland. The Education Unit has worked in partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and Stirling Council Children’s Services to develop Technology Days at Stirling Castle for the last three years. Events take place in October as part of National Construction Week for upper primary school children.
Historic Scotland contributes regularly to events throughout Scotland promoted by the Council for Scottish Archaeology which involve a range of learners of all ages.
They are exploring ways of promoting use of properties in care as a resource for local community learning and activity.
An immediate priority is making known to the new cultural co-ordinators in schools the range of resources available from Historic Scotland and other heritage organisations in the public, voluntary and private sectors. Historic Scotland is contributing to training days for cultural co-ordinators in 2004.
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