I am delighted to be associated with this excellent resource pack, Archaeology in the Classroom – It’s About Time!. History is an exciting and important part of children’s education. History allows us to learn about the activities of people in the past, but more importantly, it can help us to become informed, critical members of society.
The Primary School Curriculum 1999, emphasises that historical education is concerned with our knowledge and interpretation of the lives of people in the past, as well as the process by which historians go about their work. Children can learn about the interpretations that we may have of the actions of people in the past and about the ways in which men, women and children responded to and lived through these events. Just as important, children can learn a wide range of skills, including how to examine evidence in a critical way, how to communicate findings to others, and how to empathise with other people.

At the core of the historian’s task is working with evidence, and the curriculum encourages teachers and children to explore historical evidence in a “hands-on” way. Archaeology encompasses both prehistoric and historic evidence, and this resource, Archaeology in the Classroom – It’s About Time! from Limerick Education Centre, can assist teachers to provide an exciting range of evidence-based learning opportunities for pupils. In a very practical way, it will enable teachers to introduce the concept of
learning about our past through the evidence that is all around us. It will help teachers and pupils to examine their own environments through exploring streetscapes, local maps, and old photographs. It explains how older evidence in the locality and from other places can be examined and interpreted to reveal information about the lives of people in the past. The modules in the pack are expertly
designed to foster the skills identified in the Primary School Curriculum – such as recognising cause and effect, understanding chronology and a sense of time, and recognising change and continuity.
I am sure that the pack will be welcomed warmly by schools and teachers and I would like to congratulate those who were involved in its development. These have included Limerick Education Centre, the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Archaeological Survey of Ireland (Limerick), and the Primary Curriculum Support
Service of my Department. Much of the work was carried out by Mary Sleeman, Consultant Archaeologist, and I know that practising teachers and children have also contributed to the development of the pack. My heartiest congratulations to you all!
Archaeology in the Classroom – It’s About Time! will, I am sure, prove an invaluable support for the teaching of history. It should remind all of us about the importance of the evidence of the past and the need to cherish the rich heritage that we have in Ireland.