HISTORY

DEPARTMENT

COMPETITIONS

THE 2005 LOCAL HISTORY PRIZE WAS AWARDED TO:

John Coleby
James Lloyd
Joe Delo 

for their Oxford History Website.
Click here to reach the site:

This also won a prize (including a PC) in a local web design competition.
BRAVO!!!!!

The possible formats for the original brief were as follows:

" Some boys may favour a traditional folder of work perhaps with photographs (copies of old photographs or more recent personal shots), some may prefer to produce ICT presentations (Power Point or similar), some may favour a formal essay, others may wish to pose themselves the challenge of producing a film.

There will be no ‘word limit’ as such, though boys might do well to remember that quality can often win over quantity.

Boys may want to focus on an individual building or group of buildings, a village, a local community or town, or they may want to focus on a particular family local to the area.  Sensible advice would be to plan carefully and think ahead - do not undertake something that is too wide in scope!

As in previous competitions the emphasis should be on personal investigation and evaluation rather than on ‘copying’ from another source.

Where appropriate it is expected that a bibliography would be added to the work.  This should include references to any records and books used.

Boys might like to pose and answer a series of questions such as:
What has changed and why?

Older boys should also try and link their local investigation into the context of what was happening in England at the time.  Does the local study reflect national trends and developments?

However, there are no rigid guidelines as to structure and no specified content. Individual initiative is looked for.  

Since boys come from quite a wide area the definition of ‘local’ is quite flexible.  It is anticipated that, in the majority of cases, this will not extend beyond Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

HINTS:Mrs. Cooper is very happy to help boys who would like some guidance as to where they might look to find resources or ideas they might want to follow up.

The Local Studies section of the Library is upstairs.  The books have orange stickers on their spines.

The School library also has an excellent range of old Ordnance Survey Maps in the Map chest.  Ask Mrs. Cooper for assistance.

The following site presents some helpful guidelines on how to ‘get started’ with local history.

http://www.local-history.co.uk/

Local librarians can often be very helpful.

May I remind boys that they are ambassadors for the school at every point.   Thus the highest standards of courtesy (most particularly in expressions of gratitude) are expected in any dealings with members of the local community.