Fifteen Year 7 students from Woodham’s More Able Academy attended Palace Green Library, Durham for two workshops, ‘What is a book’ and ‘Witchcraft for Muggles’ . These are part of Durham University’s 4schools programme. The students were allowed to handle and read books which are over 400 years old, they also saw the first printed book in Europe which is 600 years old and very delicate! They tried writing with quills and printing pages to make books. The afternoon session concentrated on using the books for research on witches in the 1600’s, reading the old handwriting and language and looking at what was considered to be fact at that time. The workshops were led by two History graduates, Ross and Jen, whose enthusiasm for the subject was very evident. The students also had a look around the museum’s other exhibitions: Hearing Voices, 10,000 years of Durham and Poetry in Durham. Headteacher, Christine Forsyth, says “We hope that giving students an early opportunity to experience academic research will inspire them to achieve well in the future.”
