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Shetland Primary School Secures Funding to Build New Thing Site

Published: 04 December 2012

A new thing site is to be built in Nesting, Shetland, thanks to the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund ‘All Our Stories’ grant.

The project, led by Nesting Primary School teachers and pupils, will create a visual and physical record of the culture and heritage of Nesting. Their school grounds will be developed to create a thing site as well as new areas relating to Trows, Vikings and boat builders, while inside the school a permanent exhibition will capture the Sons & Daughters of Nesting and their impact not only on Shetland culture, but also further afield.

Commenting on the award, Head Teacher Kate Coutts says: “This is a tremendous opportunity to create a project that will capture Nesting’s story and will provide wonderful learning experiences, not just for the pupils but the whole community. We hope to create a themed garden that will encourage people to visit our community and learn about our culture and heritage. We are all really excited and can’t wait to get started.” ‘All Our Stories’ is a brand new small grant programme, designed as an opportunity for everyone to get involved in their heritage. With Heritage Lottery support, community groups will carry out activities that help people explore, share and celebrate their heritage.

Head Teacher Kate Coutts developed the project idea after attending a lecture held in Lerwick as part of the THING Project held earlier in the year. The school will work closely with the local community and THING Project partner Shetland Amenity Trust to develop the project and explore their local story.

Eileen Brooke Freeman, Place Names Officer with Shetland Amenity Trust says ‘The Thing of Nesting in Nesting Primary School is a really exciting new venture. It captures the spirit of thing sites by creating a hub in the centre of the community where people can come together to explore and learn about local heritage. We’re really pleased that the THING Project has been able to inspire Nesting Primary School to engage with their past and we’re looking forward to working with them in telling their story’.

As well as the themed garden and exhibition The Thing of Nesting in Nesting Primary School will feature a new geocaching site, which will link in with the newly launched Thing Sites GeoTour. This will link the newly created thing site with Nesting’s historical assembly site, presumed to have been on the promontory at Neap, as well as highlighting Shetland’s links with the rest of Scandinavia and the Norse world. Children from the school have already begun to explore these links and have logged ‘first to finds’ for Thing Sites geocaches in both Shetland and Orkney.

Find out more about the project at http://nesthing.wikispaces.com/

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