Age of Revolution launches national animation competition for schools with Dan Snow

The Age of Revolution national educational project has teamed up with historian, broadcaster and author Dan Snow to launch an animation competition for primary and secondary schools.

Open to entries until February 14th 2020, the Age of Revolution invites schools to submit a short animation using the title ‘What Does Revolution Mean to Me?’

The animation can be influenced by a revolutionary invention, event, idea or person from the Age of Revolution (1775 – 1848), however, it could also be something revolutionary from another time, inspiration from students’ local history or in their own lives or wider world today. The Age of Revolution also encourages schools to involve objects and artworks from museums, galleries or archives in their animations. This could be achieved through our extensive online Revolutionary collection.

A winner and a runner-up for both Primary and Secondary sectors will be chosen in March 2020 by a team of expert judges, including Dan Snow, award-winning Casting Director Kate Rhodes-James, BBC Animation Producer Barry Quinn and Anra Kennedy, Partnerships Director at Culture24. The judges are looking for imaginative, creative animations, which genuinely reflect students’ own ideas and thoughts about ‘Revolution.’

Winners will be announced at the end of March 2020. The winning entries will be showcased on History Hit TV. The winning schools will also receive £500 to support further cultural and digital learning.

The Age of Revolution project aims to inspire and support learning in schools about the extraordinary people, events and ideas of the time and to connect these to the lives of children and young people today, working actively with more than 2,000 UK schools. The project provides bespoke educational materials, multimedia technology and educational and cultural partnerships for children at all Key Stages.

Victoria Nielson, CEO for Waterloo 200 says: “The revolution in Europe saw seismic change and upheaval, extraordinary ideas and innovation and radical new ways of thinking, living and working. By asking schools to think about the period in a new way - through the lens of a modern medium like animation - we hope to inspire a new generation of teaching and learning about this important piece of history. Ultimately, we are looking to create a broad and varied collection of learning resources and inspirational work, created from and by, children.”

Dan Snow, historian and ambassador for Waterloo 200 added: “We know that children can make some amazing observations, and this competition will allow us all to see an important period of history through a new lens. We're looking forward to finding out how they see revolution, and how key moments in history are impacting on their lives today. This competition will encourage children, who may have never really thought about revolution before, to talk about it, to appreciate it and to learn from it.”

Schools can find out more about the competition and how to enter at The Age of Revolution website. And, to provide food for thought, The Age of Revolution has worked with a primary school to produce an inspirational animation, which showcases what can be created in the classroom.

About the Age of Revolution
The Age of Revolution resource brings together objects and artworks from museums and galleries across the UK, together with fascinating facts, information and curriculum-linked ideas to help bring this extraordinary period to life. The Age of Revolution is an educational legacy project from Waterloo 200 – the official body recognised by the UK government to support the commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo during its bicentenary in 2015 and beyond.

For media enquiries, please contact Ella Watkins on ella@thirdcity.co.uk or 020 3953 5113