High school students celebrate culture and history of Flint Castle

A project inspired by a fictional story has led to students at a high school participating in cross-curricular activities to develop their knowledge of local culture and history.

Year 9 students at Flint High School delved into the history and origins of Flint Castle after studying the book, ‘Our Castle by the Sea’ by Lucy Strange in their English lessons.

Students have written letters of application to be an imaginary knight at the castle and, as well as being a focus for oracy and different forms of writing in English, the Flint Castle project evolved to incorporate art, with students producing sketches and images of the castle in lessons.

Local historian, Vicky Perfect, took a group of students on a guided tour of the castle and were told about the relevance of the castle to Shakespeare’s play, King Richard 11, and the castle’s importance in the conquest of Wales by Edward 1.

Students were given the opportunity to search for the initials of ancient stonemasons around the castle and were shown some interesting features of the ancient monument, including a well, a storage area and even the original castle toilet area.

They also learned about its strategic location, being only one days’ march from Chester with invaders easily visible from its position on the banks of the Dee.

David Jones, English teacher, has led the project, he said: “The students have been absolutely enthralled to learn all about their own ‘castle by the sea’, having been so absorbed in the novel by Lucy Strange.

“It has been great to see their enthusiasm as the project has developed this term and I have been really impressed by the standard of work they have produced in both English and art.

“Their work currently links to the new Curriculum for Wales too, where places of local significance are a focus for study across different curriculum areas. It is brilliant to have such a fascinating historic monument on our doorstep and it has been a delight to see our students thoroughly enjoying discovering the rich heritage we have here in Flint.

“We are so grateful to Vicky Perfect for giving her time and sharing her knowledge of the castle, and I would like to thank our art teacher, Claire Evans, who has overseen the art aspect of this project.”