School pupils’ history project visited by former Sunderland FA Cup-winning captain

Former Sunderland captain Bobby Kerr, back row, second right from right, meets with pupils at St Aidan's Catholic Academy as they held their Great Exhibition.

Youngsters in Year 7 at St Aidan’s Catholic Academy held its Great Exhibition event in conjunction with the Fans Museum organisation.

The pupils showcased their projects on change over time similar to the original Great Exhibition organised by Prince Albert back in 1851.

St Aidan's Catholic Academy's Great Exhibition.

As well as football, themes of shipbuilding, transport, war and graffiti also went on display.

Ambassadors for the Fans Museum project visited the school to showcase match-worn memorabilia.

Ex-SAFC skipper Bobby Kerr, who captained the side to their 1973 FA Cup final victory over Leeds United, was also present to give the exhibition the thumbs up.

Andrew Morris, assistant headteacher at the Willowbank Road school, said: “This is work that is above and beyond the usual work expected of students so is much more personal and independent in nature.

Fans Museum memorabilia at St Aidan's Catholic Academy's Great Exhibition.

“We established a museum type space which each of the students could take ownership of and display their work how they saw fit.

“We had a wide range of work from traditional paper based projects through to multi-media presentations as well as a plethora of artefacts and historical novelties.

“The independence of the students within their work was mirrored by their drive and determination to put on a worthwhile and engaging exhibition.

“This they certainly did.

“The many visitors we had through our doors on opening night was just feedback for the hard work the students had put in.

“Our students engaged fully with all parents and members of the public and did the school proud.

“All of the parents spoke of their pride in their young people as well as a genuine awe at the level of research and learning that had gone on outside the classroom.

“Our recent examination success which places us as ne of the top schools in the North East is grounded in work such as this.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to push our students onto bigger and better things and the feedback we received for this shows that is certainly the case.”