Educating Others

Spreading The Word: Talks to School Pupils and the Scout Group

The Society recently received two separate and unrelated requests from Little Eaton Primary School and the local Scout Group to give a talk on the life and legacy of Thomas Bates. Given that one of our aims is to make our community (particularly its younger members) more aware of the history and heritage of the village these were opportunities not to be missed. Lynn Siddons, a village resident and the great, great, great niece of Thomas Bates joined me on both occasions and made a valuable contribution. She was able to show them Thomas's pocket watch which had been handed down through the family and relate some family stories. 

The School

The talk was intended to provide information on TB's life and his generosity to his native village. Under the guidance of their teachers the pupils wrote up information sheets and Lynn and I were invited back to view the children's efforts. These were very good and there was a wide variation in the presentations. The Society provided book token prizes for a boy and girl in each group. The feedback from the teaching staff was very favourable and the exercise seemed to fire the imagination of the children to record their individual thoughts on Thomas Bates.

2021

Two talks on Thomas Bates were given to two different classes in Little Eaton Primary School on Sept 15th. Lynne Siddons who is Clerk to the Bates Trust and a descendent of Thomas Bates gave the talks which were well received by the children. The children are to set a task by their teachers and LELHS gave two book tokens as prizes (one for each class).

The Scouts

The talk to the Scouts was held in the OAP Hall and was very similar in content to the one at the School. The children were older (12/13 year olds) and presented a more difficult challenge given that scouts are more interested in physical activity than listening to a talk. However they were reasonably receptive and the Scout Leader expressed her satisfaction with the evening.

Bill Hutchison