Newsletter: May 2022

STEM Cymru Sixth Form Project

The Museum’s Education Manager, Amy Williams, has spent the last six months working with education charity STEM Cymru on their sixth form engineering project.

A group of students from St Johns College, Cardiff, were set an engineering challenge by the Museum team to research and create a prototype solution based on historical minting equipment. The students visited the Royal Mint on several occasions and members on the Museum team went out to the school to support them on the project.

The team worked incredibly hard and were rewarded by being awarded a Gold CREST Award for project. The CREST Awards celebrate achievements in the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

 

South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership

Our Public Engagement and Information Officer, David Mason, gave a talk to PhD researchers at the South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWW DTP) residential event early this month. Presenting to students across a range of arts and humanities disciplines, David spoke about the crossover in skills between academic research and telling stories from collections in the heritage sector.

The event was attended by the current cohort of SWWDTP researchers, who were exploring career possibilities and considering how their research could make a practical impact on the world around them. A panel of speakers, including public service workers, heritage professionals, and university lecturers, gave students a strong impression of how their research training and communications expertise can lend itself to a broad range of careers. David’s doctoral research was supported by the SWWDTP, and he looks forward to working closely with students to bring their expertise to the Museum and the wider sector.

Community outreach with the Big Pit Museum

The Museum was invited to join the Big Pit Museum’s celebrations of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by collaborating with one of their community events. The Museum’s Education Manager, Amy Williams, visited one of the Big Pit’s established community groups in the town of Blaenafon to run a medal-making workshop. The community project connects children from two primary schools with a group of elders from the local area. Together they explore activities and share stories. Amy said 'It was lovely to be part of this event and talk to different generations about their thoughts and memories of Jubilee celebrations'.

 

Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee at Lancaster House

Our Information and Research Manager, Chris Barker, spoke at a Platinum Jubilee event at the beautiful venue of Lancaster House in London. Chris’s talk explored the first coinage of Her Majesty the Queen’s reign and the story of how Mary Gillick’s portrait was selected for the obverse.

Also pictured is Professor Kate Williams, of the University of Reading, who gave a corresponding talk about the Queen’s reign. Our Exhibitions Manager, Abigail Kenvyn, attended the event, displaying a case of items from the Museum collection that complemented the talks. Both Chris and Abigail enjoyed the well-attended event and were delighted to be back giving talks in-person, helping audiences explore this fascinating aspect of the Museum’s collection.

If you would like a talk for your group or society feel free to get in touch.