NEWS
A tribute to one of our founding members
Danusia Trotman-Dickenson (1929 - 2024)
In June 1940 an eleven year old girl called Danusia and her mother were rescued from a small fishing boat off the coast of France. They were fleeing from the Nazis, and they were rescued by a Welsh coal ship. The two of them had been refugees since September 1939, when the German tanks had rolled into Warsaw, their home city. They had travelled across Europe looking for safety, going through Romania, Yugoslavia and Italy only to find themselves in Paris just as the Germans arrived there.
On July 5th 2024, the funeral was held of Professor Emerita Lady Danusia Trotman- Dickenson MBE. By coincidence, on the same day the annual award ceremony of the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative was held at the National Library of Wales. One of the founders of the Initiative was Lady Trotman-Dickenson , who had once been that refugee child in a French fishing boat.
Here is a little of her history. After the coal ship reached Plymouth, the refugees were first taken to Fulham barracks in London. From there Danusia and her mother were relocated to a settlement camp in Peebles and then Linlithgow in Scotland , where they began to pick up the threads of a normal life. Danusia was able to resume a formal education and subsequently attend Edinburgh University to follow a degree course in business studies. Conditions at the end of the war were very difficult, and her mother had to adapt her school uniform so that she could wear it to university lectures.
She went on to do a Master’s degree in economics at the London School of Economics. Following that she obtained a post at Manchester University as a tutor, before returning to Edinburgh University as a lecturer. She gained her doctorate there in 1956.
Danusia met her husband, Aubrey Trotman-Dickenson (later Professor Sir Aubrey), when they were both working in Manchester. They spent some time in the USA after marrying, before moving to Aberystwyth University when he was appointed head of the Chemistry Department there. Wales became their home from then on, and Danusia’s final post was as a professor at Glamorgan University, Pontypridd.
In the 1980s, when Danusia was approaching retirement, education became a matter of public debate, since Mrs Thatcher’s government were introducing the idea of a National Curriculum, at that time a radical innovation for British schools. The original intention was to have exactly the same curriculum in England and in Wales. But it quickly became clear that this would not work, especially in a subject like history. The Association of History Teachers in Wales campaigned vigorously for Wales to have its own programme of study for history, one which would make the Welsh perspective central to history in the schools of Wales. When the Association succeeded in this aim, it opened the door for other subjects to argue the case for having separate Welsh programmes of study. This was the first step towards creating today’s Curriculum for Wales.
But many teachers in Wales at that time were unfamiliar with local and Welsh history. The Heritage Committee of the Institute for Welsh Affairs decided that a competition for schools would encourage the teaching of Welsh history and heritage. The Chair of this committee was Lady Trotman-Dickenson, and she, with her connections in the business world of Wales, ensured that generous sponsors stepped forward to offer appropriate prizes to the successful schools.
In 1990 the Initiative was launched at the National Museum under the auspices of the Institute for Welsh Affairs. From then on to the end of her long life, Danusia’s leadership, energy and ability were crucial to the competition and central to its success. She was its first Chairperson, and, after she retired from the chair, she became the Initiative’s Life President. From the beginning the aim was to celebrate the good work being done by schools in the field of heritage and history, to encourage young people to take more interest in their cynefin (broadly, their locality and its community), its heritage and the contribution made to that heritage by their own families and communities. The competition is open to all schools in Wales, and to pupils of all ages and abilities. Its continuity is a testament to the work of a very remarkable woman, and its success a matter of pride for everyone in Wales.
In Aberystwyth on July 5 this year, 74 Welsh schools received prizes for their work on the heritage and history of Wales. As a result, over 10,000 Welsh pupils will benefit from the work and the vision of Professor Emerita Lady Trotman-Dickenson, once a refugee child in a French fishing boat.
Note: You will find more details of Lady Trotman-Dickenson’s experiences as a refugee in the article she contributed to Parachutes and Petticoats: Welsh women writing on the Second World War (Honno, 1992).
Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative 2024 Awards
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR 2024 WINNERS
Thousands of School Pupils Explore Welsh Heritage Through Competition
Over nine thousand pupils from across Wales participated in this year's Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative (WHSI) competition. Judges were thrilled to meet such enthusiastic learners who eagerly explored and discovered more about their local and national heritage.
Winners received their awards on Friday, July 5, at a ceremony held at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth sharing a prize funds totalling £35,000. The WHSI expressed gratitude to all participants and congratulated pupils and teachers for their remarkable achievements.
Category winners were awarded £800 each and received shields presented by Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum of Wales.
For the second consecutive year, Maerdy Community Primary School, Rhondda Cynon Taf, won the Foundation Phase category for their inspiring project, ‘Somewhere Only We Know,’ which focused on raising awareness of the area’s history.
In the primary category, the standard was exceptionally high, resulting in two shield winners. Darren Park Primary School, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was recognized for their forward-thinking project, ‘The Working World – From the Past to the Present to Future Aspirations,’ which examined history and engaged pupils in discussions about their futures. The school also won the People’s Collection Wales: Digital Excellence Award. Ysgol Froncysyllte, Wrexham, was another primary school shield winner for their outstanding project, ‘The Tailor’s Journey,’ which included excellent research work and earned them the Cadw trophy.
Ysgol Maes y Coed, Neath Port Talbot, won the 2024 Special Education and Alternative Provision shield for their inclusive project that produced wonderful artwork and multi-sensory activities.
The 2024 Secondary School category shield winners were Ysgol Gowerton, Swansea, for their in-depth research project on their locality, ‘History of our Local Area,’ led by the Criw Cymreig.
Three sixth-form students from Ysgol Bro Myrddin, Carmarthenshire, received the main WHSI EUSTORY prize for their work researching Welsh history in the 19th century. They will have the opportunity to represent Wales in an upcoming network for young historians in Riga, Latvia.
WHSI Chair, Dr. Huw Griffiths, remarked: “This year, we witnessed a significant number of schools competing, with increased participation from secondary schools. Another positive development is the overall rise in the standard of submissions, making it particularly challenging for the judges to select a winner, as shown by the number of schools in the top category. This bodes well for fostering a deeper understanding of Welsh heritage among learners. Personally, I am especially pleased to see schools developing projects on Welsh women and Black, Asian, and ethnic minority history. These elements are integral to our collective story, and I hope that in the future, learners in Wales will leave school with a richer knowledge of Welsh history.”
See the full summary report 2024 for the list of all winners along with the adjudications. Look out for the 2025 competition details this autumn.
The House of Lords Visit
St Martin’s School Caerphilly visit to the House of Lords - the 2023 Lord Brooke Prize. Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe, who kindly sponsored the prize, met the students there.
Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative 2023 Awards
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR 2023 WINNERS
Moondance 2023 WHSI
Slate Museum
MC actor WHSI 2023
Moondance 2023 WHSI
Record number of Welsh schools win prizes for their heritage projects.
Over six thousand pupils from across Wales took part in this year’s Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative competition. The judges were delighted to meet such enthusiastic learners who had been busy exploring and discovering more about the wealth and diversity of their local and national heritage.
Sixty-seven schools have been awarded one of the Initiative’s prestigious awards for their creative and varied research, sharing over £32,000 in prizemoney. Most of the winners were presented with their prizes on Thursday 6 July at an awards ceremony held in the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, whilst others received their awards a week later at the National Slate Museum, Llanberis. The WHSI thanked all who had entered and congratulated pupils and teachers for their astounding achievements.
The category winners were awarded £800 each and shields presented by Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales.
This year’s Foundation Phase category winners were Maerdy Community Primary School, Rhondda Cynon Taf, for their inspiring project, ‘Made and Moulded in Maerdy’, which focused on the area’s history and famous figures. In the same category, St. Asaph VP Infant School, Denbighshire, won the first Cadw trophy for their ambitious ‘Ein Cynefin’ project.
The top entries in the primary whole-school category were of an exceptionally high standard, with the shield being awarded to Baglan Primary School, Neath Port Talbot, for their community-based research ‘From the Caribbean to Cymru’, linking their local history with the Windrush Generation.
For their outstanding local area project, which included excellent research work, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tirdeunaw, Swansea, were also primary school shield-winners.
Ysgol St. Christopher’s School, Wrexham, won the 2023 Special Education and Alternative Provision shield for their engaging whole school’s project which focused on the influence of Wrexham AFC on the town and the school community.
The 2023 Secondary School category shield winners were Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire, for their in-depth research project on their locality, ‘Our Cynefin’.
For her work researching the effects of migration on the number of Welsh speakers, Mirain Francis from Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr was presented the main WHSI EUSTORY prize. The other 2023 WHSI EUSTORY prizewinners are Alice Jewell, Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr; Gabriel Quershi, Ysgol Bro Edern; and Lily Langabeer, Gower College. The four have now qualified to apply to attend the annual EUSTORY Next Generation Summit with other young Europeans.
The awards presented acknowledge the excellent work and achievements of pupils of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. They also highlight the importance of developing cross-curricular skills whilst studying the history and culture of Wales. The Digital Excellence Awards, sponsored by the People’s Collection Wales, were won this year by Ysgol Penboyr, Carmarthenshire, and Troedyrhiw Community Primary School, Merthyr Tydfil.
The South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust (SWIEET) Gwyn Griffiths Prize for the best project on green issues was awarded to Cross Hands CP School, Carmarthenshire. SWIEET also sponsored the William Menelaus Prize for best project on industrial heritage, which was awarded to Ffaldau Primary School, Bridgend, for their Industry in Wales, Past, Present and Future: Power of Wales project.
Other specific prizes awarded this year included the Richard Price Memorial Prize, to commemorate 300 years since his birth, which was won by Tynyrheol Primary School, Bridgend, for their project ‘The Most Original Thinker Born in Wales? An Inquiry into Dr. Richard Price’. The award for the study of women in Welsh history, sponsored by Women’s Archive Wales, was won again this year by Ysgol Bro Edern, Cardiff.
WHSI Chair, Angharad Williams, said: “With a record number of schools competing this year, it’s clear that the requirement of the new curriculum ensures that our competition is as relevant and appealing as ever. It is encouraging to see such passion and pride in our young people as they discuss and share the results of their research. As in previous years, I am sure the 2023 WHSI EUSTORY prizewinners, selected to join other young Europeans at a summit in Prague this autumn, will be excellent ambassadors for Wales.
All our 2023 winners should be justly proud and certainly deserve the opportunity for their excellent work to be acknowledged and celebrated. To enable us to award such generous prizes, WHSI is extremely grateful and indebted to each and every one of our loyal sponsors, including the Moondance and Hodge Foundations, for their generosity.”
See the full summary report 2023 for the list of all winners along with the adjudications. Look out for the 2024 competition details this autumn.
Award Winners 2023
Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales shields are presented to the best entry in each category:
Foundation Phase Schools
Maerdy Community Primary School
Primary and Junior Schools
– Whole School Projects
Baglan Primary School
Primary and Junior Schools
– Class and Year Group Projects
Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tirdeunaw
Special Education
and Alternative Provision
Ysgol St. Christopher’s School
Secondary Schools
Ysgol Bro Dinefwr
EUSTORY
Mirain Francis
Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr
Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative 2022 Awards
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR 2022 WINNERS
Welsh schools win over £25,000 for their heritage projects
Thirty-three schools celebrate winning one of the 2022 Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative’s prestigious awards for their outstanding, creative and varied research.
The winners were announced on Friday 8 July, 2022 at the Initiative’s 30th awards ceremony in St Fagans National History Museum, with the top category winners returning to school with over £1,300 worth of prizes each and shields presented by Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales.
This year’s Foundation Phase category winners were Cogan Primary School, Vale of Glamorgan, for their innovative and interesting project exploring the work of local herbologist, Royston Smith.
To win the shield for the best primary whole-school project, every child in Rhws Primary School, Vale of Glamorgan, contributed to their discussion on Who are we as a nation? For their pioneering, ambitious project Everyone’s Wales: Breaking Boundaries Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llwyncelyn, Rhondda Cynon Taf, were also primary school shield-winners.
The 2022 Special Education and Alternative Provision winners were Ysgol Pen y Bryn, Swansea, for their well-crafted project on Swansea Copperopolis.
For the second year running, Ysgol Bro Pedr, Ceredigion, won the Secondary School category, along with one of the Digital Excellence Awards, for their innovative project Pride in Our Area, Our Cynefin. Ffion-Jessica Thomas from Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr was presented the 2022 WHSI EUSTORY prize for her work researching the effects of the Welsh language on cognitive development.
Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden, attended on the day to present some prizes to the winners, she said: “It is amazing to see that 3,000 children across Wales have been involved in this year’s competition. I hope that the experience has increased their knowledge of their heritage and will inspire them to find out more. History matters and we should encourage upcoming generations to explore, appreciate and conserve their heritage, as well as delight in the magnificent achievements from the past.”
Following another challenging year for schools, the WHSI Chair, Angharad Williams, thanked and congratulated pupils and teachers for their astounding achievements. She added, “The judges reported on some exceptional examples of how historical and heritage themes have been embedded into the requirements of the new Curriculum for Wales. The winners should be justly proud and certainly deserve the opportunity for their excellent work to be acknowledged and celebrated. To enable us to award such great prizes, WHSI is extremely grateful and indebted to each and every one of our loyal sponsors, including the Moondance and Hodge Foundations, for their generosity.”
The awards presented acknowledge the excellent work and achievements of pupils all ages, backgrounds, and abilities from across Wales. They also highlight the importance of developing cross-curricular skills through studying the history and culture of Wales with the Digital Excellence Awards, sponsored by the People’s Collection Wales, presented annually - won by Ty’n y Wern Primary, Caerphilly and Ysgol Bro Pedr, Ceredigion in 2022.
Other specific prizes awarded include one for the study of women in Welsh history - sponsored by Women’s Archive Wales (won by Ysgol Bro Edern, Cardiff this year).
New for 2022 the South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust (SWIEET) sponsored two new prizes: The Gwyn Griffiths Prize for the best project on green issues (awarded to Gelli Primary School, Rhondda Cynon Taf, for their project on Black Gold) and The William Menelaus Prize for best project on industrial heritage (awarded to Fochriw Primary School, Caerphilly on their historic enquiry The Lost Village of Penybanc).
See the full summary report 2022 for the list of all winners along with the adjudications. Look out for the 2023 competition details this autumn.
Award Winners 2022
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales shields are presented to the best entry in each category:
Foundation Phase Schools
COGAN
PRIMARY SCHOOL
Primary and Junior Schools
– Whole School Projects
RHWS PRIMARY SCHOOL
Primary and Junior Schools
– Class and Year Group Projects
YSGOL GYNRADD GYMRAEG LLWYNCELYN
Special Education
and Alternative Provision
YSGOL
PEN Y BRYN
Secondary Schools
YSGOL BRO PEDR
EUSTORY
Ffion Thomas
YSGOL GYFUN GŴYR
WHSI is pleased to announce a new sponsor for our annual competition for schools. The South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust- SWIEET. SWIETT are generously funding two prizes of up to £500 each.
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The William Menelaus Prize for the best project that focuses on an aspect of the industrial heritage of Wales, or historical individuals or groups involved in Welsh industrial development.
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The Gwyn Griffiths Prize for the best project that has a focus on ‘green issues’ and highlights environmental and improvement issues of a locality with a former industrial background.
William Menelaus was an engineer who helped to transform the iron industry in Merthyr Tydfil and in the Taff and its tributary valleys.
Gwyn Griffiths was a pioneer in the removal of coal tips in South Wales. swieet2007.org
Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative 2021 Awards
PUPILS GIVE STAR PERFORMANCE IN NEW DIGITAL COMPETITION
The Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative was delighted to receive the supportive words of Michael Sheen when he appeared as part of the virtual awards ceremony on Friday 2 July.
“It’s a pleasure for me to support the work of the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative and be part of this year’s awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the young people of Wales.
The annual competition held by the WHSI for almost thirty years provides a wonderful mechanism for young people of all ages and abilities across Wales to take a greater interest in their heritage / cynefin, and the contribution made to it by their own communities.
I would like to congratulate all who have taken part and those who have worked so hard to make it possible.” (Michael Sheen. July 2021)
Friday 2 July 2021 saw the first ever virtual awards ceremony in the history of the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative. This last year has been a year like no other with schools working remotely with their learners for much of the time, battling with the inevitable difficulties this involved. It also provided a considerable challenge to the WHSI as this body wanted to ensure that, despite the dire situation in which the country found itself, the thirst for learning and the desire to reach new horizons in learning were not quenched, but were made possible by the annual competition it holds. Therefore, with much hard work and with support from loyal and generous sponsors, a new digital format for the competition was devised.
It was uncertain how many entries would be received in such a climate but the WHSI was delighted to have received over 30 entries, English and Welsh, from across the educational sector. Teachers and pupils made a superb effort to engage with the competition resulting yet again in a high standard of entry, with some presenting exceptional examples of how heritage can be the centre of the four purposes in the new Curriculum for Wales. Projects submitted covered a wide range of subjects – multi-culturalism, the Welsh language, individual towns/cities in Wales, World Wars, Sport, Industry, famous Welsh people, local buildings and churches, women in Wales. The enthusiasm and engagement of pupils, facilitated by the commitment and energy of teachers, were indeed evident in the quality of the work submitted. All deserve congratulations, and can indeed feel proud of their achievements.
In each educational sector there was an overall winner receiving a shield presented by the Amgueddfa Cymru(National Museum of Wales)and £1000 donated by the Hodge/Moondance Foundations. In the Foundation phase this was won by Penboyr School, Carmarthenshire for their study of Drefach Felindre, concentrating on business past and present. Ysgol Bryn Y Mȏr, Swansea and Ysgol Casmael, Pembrokeshire were joint winners of the Primary/Junior phase with their projects – ‘Things will Get Better’- comparing the difficult times of WW2 and the pandemic, and ‘Casmael Remembers’- the contribution of the village to WW1 and the impact of the war on the locality. The winner of the Special Education and Alternative Provision shield was Ysgol Heol Goffa,Carmarthenshire whose subject was ‘Traditional Foods of Wales’ – where pupils researched, made and tasted different foods with great enthusiasm – Masterchef in the making! The Secondary sector shield was won by Ysgol Bro Pedr, Ceredigion for their project – ‘In and Out of Wales’ – an ambitious and enriching project dealing with migration and emigration.
In addition the Initiative celebrated the winner of the prestigious EUSTORY competition. WHSI is the only UK member of Eustory – an informal network of non-governmental organisations - which holds research – based history competitions for young people in 28 countries across Europe This year the competition has taken on a new format – students in Years 12 and 13 were invited to submit an individual project linked to Welsh Heritage and based on research, analysis and evaluation. The winners receive a monetary prize and an opportunity to apply to participate in the annual EUSTORY activities programme, which this year will be in virtual format. The WHSI winner 2021 is Molly Cook of Bryntirion Comprehensive School, Bridgend whose research into a disused historic building with her peer group led to her publication of an extremely impressive analysis and evaluation in ‘The Historian’. Molly also won this year’s Historical Association Young Historian Local History Award for this work.
The Welsh Heritage Initiative wishes to thank all who have made this year’s competition a success – sponsors, officials, judges and most especially the pupils and teachers for their participation in such difficult times. Importantly many thanks go to Michael Sheen for giving his support at the ceremony.
It is hoped that the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative will go from strength to strength in the future so that our young people discover and learn about their heritage, and the importance of it in enriching their lives. The First Minister for Wales, The Rt Honourable Mark Drakeford, endorses the work of the Initiative – ‘It contributes to the knowledge and understanding that our young people have of their history and heritage and encourages them to explore and learn from the past.’
The WHSI would like to encourage more schools to be involved in 2022 and invite them to look at the website: www.whsi.org.uk
For further information please contact the WHSI Press Officer Jeanne Evans: CLICK HERE
Award Winners 2021
Foundation Phase Schools
PENBOYR
SCHOOL
Primary and Junior Schools
YSGOL BRYN Y MOR
• YSGOL CASMAEL
Special Category
YSGOL HEOL GOFFA
Secondary Schools
YSGOL BRO PEDR
EUSTORY
MOLLY COOK, BRYNTIRION COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL
Full Summary Report 2021