Glamorgan Cricket is delighted to announce a series of exciting and innovative educational activities involving pupils from schools across Wales ahead of the Ashes Test Match which will be held at the SWALEC Stadium between July 8th and 12th.
The Ashes Partner Schools project will see pupils from primary and secondary schools in Wales prepare a range of material which celebrates cricket in the Principality, its rich history, its star names, as well as its links with international cricket and the Ashes. Pupils from an initial batch of schools in Cardiff, Swansea, Colwyn Bay, Ystalyfera and Builth Wells will be creating material in both film and paper format which Glamorgan Cricket will be using ahead of, during and after the Ashes Test at the Club's headquarters, with the winning entry played on the big screens at the SWALEC Stadium on Day 3 of the Ashes Test Match.
All of the content will also have a permanent home in the award-winning CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket at the SWALEC Stadium and will additionally support an exhibition in the Museum called Glamorgan and The Ashes which will include a number of fascinating objects telling the history of England-Australia Test Matches and the involvement of Glamorgan players in Ashes cricket.
The pupils, ranging from Years 5 to 8, involved in the Ashes Partner Schools Project will explore a number of themes including the origins of the Ashes, the deeds of Glamorgan players in Ashes cricket as well as looking back to the gripping series of 2005 and 2009. Some of the pupils will also be creating a cricket-based song whilst others will plan and film a re-enactment of the creation of the original Ashes urn, as well as re-creating some of the iconic moments in Ashes history such as the Bodyline Test Matches of 1932/33 and Botham's Ashes in 1981.
Richard Thomas, Headmaster of Ysgol Pencae, one of the initial batch of schools, said, This project perfectly fits several of our curriculum areas and the activities in partnership with Glamorgan Cricket will significantly enhance the delivery of these areas. One of our key targets during the course of the past few years has been the improvement of literacy skills of boys, and these proposals during the Ashes summer and beyond present a fantastic opportunity for us to meet these targets, and to make a decisive improvement to the academic progress of all of our pupils.
Liz Berry, Deputy Head of Thornhill Primary School, another school taking part in the Project said, Our pupils and staff can hardly wait to be part of such an important global sporting event and we are looking forward to sharing this with other schools across Wales. The whole Project and the Ashes Exhibition is a fabulous opportunity for children to visit the home of Glamorgan Cricket, meet their players, to watch live county cricket and also to research the history of the Ashes. We hope that through the project, the children will develop a passion for cricket whilst creating a lasting legacy of written work and film clips for Glamorgan CCC, the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket and for Wales as a whole.
The first project for schools is the design of a new logo for Glamorgan CCC Community Twitter page @AshesCricEd which has been set up to enhance communication between individuals and schools involved in the Ashes Partner Schools project as well as to encourage work to be shared.
If you would like your school to become involved, or would like to bring your school to visit the Ashes Exhibition in the Museum and to undertake a Stadium Tour, please send an email to museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk or ring 02920 419383.