Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle

Barnaby Bear goes to St Mary's Cathedral

A preview and launch of a new ICT Project for schools focusing on St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle took place recently.

This project, funded by Grants from the Government through Durham LA , and organised by Sr Sheila McNamara of the Diocesan Education Service, and assisted by Phil Blackburn, Matthew Thompson and Vanessa Gilson from Durham LA, is to be made available to 142 primary schools in the diocese through a virtual learning gateway.

 

It focuses on what children might see in a church, what goes on there and the people who go there. The project was planned, written by and filmed with a group of teachers, cathedral clergy, members of the cathedral congregation and some ICT specialists. The end product is a brilliant resource for 4-11 year olds and flexible enough to use in various units of teaching.

 

There are two interfaces - the first is for Key Stage 1 pupils. This centers on a lovable character - Barnaby Bear - who visits St Mary's Catholic Cathedral and enjoys going around the Cathedral and finding out about what goes on there.

 

Older pupils (Key Stage 2) can go on a virtual tour of the Cathedral where it is possible to click on which part of the Cathedral they want to explore and see a short video and information featuring members of the Cathedral.

 

The whole thing will be available eventually to view and use on-line, and Phil Blackburn from Durham LA, who was instrumental in the Project, says: "It is a fantastic resource to use in the classroom".