Education policy

Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO) exists to collect and preserve the archival heritage of the City of Plymouth and West Devon area. It documents this material and facilitates public access to it. It encourages its use for education, research and leisure through a programme of outreach and community involvement.

PWDRO is a service of Plymouth City Council and as such seeks to align its work to the strategic priorities of the authority and to assist in delivering its agendas.

Policy objectives

The purpose of this policy is to detail the principles underlying the education and outreach work (generically referred to hereafter as 'learning'), carried out by the record office, and to explain the methodology used to deliver the service. PWDRO views learning activities as absolutely integral to its other functions, that is, the care and management of the collections within its custody.

Access to archives by the widest possible audience is the key aim of the service and a pro-active education and outreach is a critical element in delivering this.

The key objectives are:

• Wider, more socially inclusive access to archives and archival resources, on-site, off-site and online
• An improved public understanding of the role and functions of the PWDRO, its collections and the varied uses to which they can be put
• To encourage new gifts and deposits of material to grow and enhance the collections
• The provision of learning resources for students and to embed primary source based learning in the curriculum.
• Co-operation and collaboration with other Council departments and external agencies to help achieve the above.

Resources

It is the role of all PWDRO staff to engage with the learning priorities of PWDRO and to embed this strategic priority in all work undertaken whether it is customer service in the searchroom, answering remote enquiries or attending an outreach event.

PWDRO employs a dedicated learning officer whose role it is to create and deliver learning resources and carry out education and outreach activities. The learning officer works in close conjunction with the learning team from the city Museum, supplying resources and delivering joint events.

The learning officer is supported by a dedicated budget but will seek, where appropriate external funding to support relevant areas of their work.

Methodology

Learning through PWDRO can take place in a variety of contexts:

On-site

• Visits by school groups to PWDRO to engage in classroom based learning
• Group visits to PWDRO to learn more about the office and its holdings
• Providing a welcoming and satisfying experience for volunteers
• Offering a venue to work experience school and university students

Off-site

• Taught sessions at schools and colleges (some supported by Museums, Libraries and Archives Council’s (MLA) Strategic Commissioning funds)
• Talks on the record office and its role to community groups
• Attendance by PWDRO staff at external events, for example, local history fairs, such as Local Studies Day and an annual archives forum
• The supply of PWDRO-held material for exhibition at Plymouth City Museum and in other venues at the request of depositors

Online

• The provision of resources for students and teachers to download
• Up to date catalogues with detailed information about all of PWDRO’s holdings
• Full information about PWDRO’s service provision and the uses of archives and records; the terms of access to archives and information for depositors
• Projects, particularly digitisation to increase the amount of content for users to access both on PWDRO and on third party websites

Promotion

PWDRO also seeks to promote its service to the public through a variety of means:

• Posters and leaflets
• Media outlets, for example, local press, radio and television via the Plymouth City Council public relations team
• Plymouth City Council and other websites

Monitoring and evaluation of learning

Statistical data is maintained for all contacts made during the course of learning activities; these contribute to PWDRO’s annual returns to The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), and where relevant, The National Archives’ self assessment process.

Monitoring of learning events is routinely carried out. Pro forma evaluation sheets are issued to all participants at events and later collected for analysis. Informal evidence, oral and written is also collected to help enhance and develop the service.

Externally funded projects will be monitored via their own internal procedures and PWDRO will accord with these in order to demonstrate compliance with the terms of any grant aid.

PWDRO has sought to use the Generic Learning Outcomes structure as developed through MLA’s Inspiring Learning for All methodology.

Key partners

PWDRO works with a number of bodies, both within and outside Plymouth City Council in order to deliver its learning priorities. Principal amongst these are:

• Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
• Plymouth City Library Service
• Plymouth City Council Historic Environment Service
• South West Film and Television Archive
• Plymouth Excellence Cluster
• Plymouth Satellite Cluster
• Devon County Council (West Devon Hub)
• MLA South West
• Friends of Devon’s Archives
• Devon Family History Society

The office is always keen to investigate new partnership possibilities where learning outcome potential is high.

Contact

The learning officer can be contacted on 01752 258733 or email pwdro@plymouth.gov.uk.

See our archives and records page for further information.

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