How one Harmonious Heroes collaboration grew into an awards-winning learning experience
Huge congratulations to students and staff at St John Lloyd Catholic School on their outstanding success in this year’s Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative. Among around 12,000 learners across Wales, the school became one of only six secondary school winners, the only secondary school in Carmarthenshire to receive national recognition and, incredibly, received two awards: a Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative Award and the Women’s Archive Wales and Moondance Foundation Prize. All to recognise the pupils’ innovative interpretation of Emmeline Pankhurst’s 1912 visit to Llanelli through historical enquiry, creativity and the imaginative use of emerging digital technologies. A remarkable achievement and one every pupil, teacher and partner involved should be immensely proud of.
The project was one of many collaborations that emerged through Emergent Thinkers’ Harmonious Heroes, a place-based initiative bringing together four Llanelli schools with businesses, creative practitioners, heritage organisations, civic leaders and community partners. Together, we explored how authentic, curriculum-led learning could help young people create value within their own communities while developing the knowledge, skills and confidence to shape the future. Across the initiative, learners became scientists, sports leaders, film-makers, designers, environmental champions, community researchers and much more. Each school responded to a different local challenge, but they all shared the same ambition: learning with purpose, through collaboration, creativity and contribution.
Bringing history to life
At St John Lloyd Catholic School, Ms Julia Roberts (History), supported by Matthew Perrott, inspired their Young Archaeologists’ Club to look at local history through a different lens. Rather than simply researching Emmeline Pankhurst’s 1912 visit to Llanelli, pupils began asking a much more interesting question: How can we help people experience this story, rather than simply read about it?
What followed was a wonderful example of cross-curricular learning. Working with Natalie Jacobs (ICT) and supported by new partnerships brokered through Harmonious Heroes, Karl Sedgwick from Domingos Studios and Mathew Griffiths from Night Owl Design helped learners combine historical enquiry with digital creativity and emerging technologies. Together they explored archive material, created original artwork and prose, experimented with AI, developed an augmented reality experience using Adobe Aero, and designed QR-enabled installations that allow visitors to encounter history in an immersive and engaging way. The result – a learner-designed digital heritage experience, using artificial intelligence and augmented reality to reinterpret Emmeline Pankhurst’s visit for modern audiences. Rather than simply preserving history, the pupils discovered how digital technologies can help communities reconnect with their own heritage in creative and meaningful ways.
Along the way they weren’t simply learning about the past. They were developing historical enquiry, digital creativity, communication, collaboration, problem solving, design thinking and digital confidence. They were working alongside industry professionals. They were testing ideas, responding to feedback and creating something with genuine value beyond the classroom. In short, they weren’t just learning history, they were becoming historians, designers, storytellers and innovators.
More than a showcase
Watching this recognition unfold reminded me that, yes the Harmonious Heroes Showcase afforded for 2 packed days to share and celebrate with the town what had begun from these projects, but the real legacy would in fact be the relationships formed, the confidence nurtured and the collaborations that continue, and the scope to build more.
For me, this award celebrates not only the exceptional project, but what becomes possible when schools are connected with the incredible expertise that already exists within our communities.
When teachers are trusted to innovate.
When businesses generously share their knowledge.
When creative practitioners open up their worlds.
When heritage organisations bring the past to life.
When young people are trusted to tackle authentic challenges.
When learning is rooted in place.
That is the ambition of Harmonious Heroes, to create the conditions where many different projects can flourish. The story continues…
To Ms Julia Roberts, Matthew Perrott, Natalie Jacob, Karl Sedgwick, Mathew Griffiths, Women’s Archive Wales, the Moondance Foundation, the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative, and above all the pupils of St John Lloyd Catholic School…congratulations.
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