As children head back to school, there is something new on their curriculum for the year.
Schools are working with Guernsey Museums to share information around the ‘Year of the Normans’ – a cultural celebration planned for 2027.
Next year marks the 1,000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror – who became the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death.
He was Duc of Normandy from 1035, a territory that included the Channel Islands – a title is still held by the British Monarch.
In fact, when the late Queen Elizabeth II was alive she was unofficially called the Duke of Normandy here.
The major cultural celebration planned for next year will span Normandy, the UK, Ireland, Flanders, Southern Italy, Norway and Denmark, as well as the Channel Islands with events focused on exhibitions and contemporary art, music and performance, student exchanges, festivals and trails, and educational and sporting activities.
Guernsey’s Education, Sport and Culture (ESC) President told Express that Guernsey’s schools are going to embrace the educational opportunities over the coming months.
“The Norman millennium, I think, is going to be really good, hopefully,” said Deputy Paul Montague.
“We’re working a lot with schools, in fact, Helen Glencross, who’s our Head of Culture and Heritage, has done an amazing amount of work with her team.
“Through Education, we’ve set up online links with Norman schools so that we’ll work on the same activities and begin twinning between schools here and there.”
Deputy Montague hopes the cultural value of this school work will be felt for years to come.
“We haven’t got a whole bunch to invest in it, but it’s one of those things we can do, and we hope it will add value not only culturally to get people reflect.
“It’s being driven in Normandy, and obviously it’s about culture and heritage but it’s an opportunity to say ‘we’re part of that’, and it will be good for visitors as we’ve got the ferry connections at the moment, so I think it’s a positive.”
Blast from the past
Of course, today’s students aren’t the first to learn about the Norman invasion and the island’s connection to King William I.
Some parents of today’s children may remember covering the Normans during their own school days in the 1980s.
The BBC and Acorn Computers ran an educational programme called the Domesday Project, to commemorate the 900th anniversary of William’s wide-ranging census of his new kingdom – the Domesday Book.
The electronic “survey”, which was recorded on 12-inch ‘LaserDiscs‘ (large DVD-like discs), included photos, essays and poems from school kids and adults from all over the British Isles about everything from local geography to their daily routine.
