“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us” Winston Churchill Barton Court is situated in the World Heritage Site of St Augustine’s Abbey in the historic cathedral city of Canterbury. In 600 AD, the Abbey monks farmed on the school’s land and fished in its lake. Barton stems from bere tun or barley enclosure and provides the name for the beautiful Georgian ‘Barton Manor’ house, which was built in the 1750’s. In turn, this our school its name and insignia today, almost 3 centuries on. In the splendid grounds are various trees of historical importance, including the famous Ginko biloba , which was one of the first six introduced to England from China in 1754 and the only one not housed in Kew Gardens today. During WWII Barton Court was initially requisitioned as one of the HQs for the Canterbury Fortress scheme, a defence strategy against any invading Nazi forces, but eventually was used as a military hospital before opening as a grammar school after the war. Barton Court, its immediate surroundings and the city in which it stands is steeped in culture and heritage and provides a narrative and backdrop for significant events that have fundamentally shaped British history. The Government commissioned ‘Henley Review of Cultural Education’ was published in 2012. It detailed a strategy to improve children’s cultural education and said that aside from being ‘intrinsically valuable’, ‘the skills which young people learn from studying Cultural Education subjects help to ensure that the UK has over many years built up a Creative and Cultural Industries Sector which is, in many areas, world beating...It’s vitally important there is continued investment in the next generation’. To this end Michael Gove set up the Heritage Schools Programme to ensure children developed an understanding of their local heritage and how it relates to the national story. It encouraged a ‘home town approach to learning how pupils’ localities fit into our rich island story’, which ‘can be brought to life by seeing our historical and heritage sites.’ He said ‘children would be inspired to delve deeper into the rich, controversial and thrilling story of England’. English Heritage say “Learning about local heritage not only supports the delivery of the history and geography curriculum, it also inspires creativity, develops literacy, an awareness and appreciation of architecture and design and encourages young people to value and protect the heritage around them.” Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, says: Outside every school there is a rich history….full of places in which significant events have taken place. We want every child … to enjoy and take pride in the heritage of their local area and to understand the part it played in the rich story of England. It’s very easy to see how Barton Court Grammar School, with its charming and tranquil surroundings, and in its historical location dating to the 7th Century, gives its pupils an enormous educational and cultural advantage and is in keeping with current policy, as well as being an idyllic place to study of course, as it says on the school’s website. It’s more difficult to see how these same benefits could be matched with a flat-pack building on a floodplain on the Thanet Way…..
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:29:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015