Australian Milling Museum secures funding to deepen education offerings

A $49,600 Community Heritage grant from the state government has been delivered to assist the AMM in the creation of a free online virtual tour of Australia's grain milling heritage, as well as 12 corresponding education modules supporting NSW and Australian education curricula for primary school students.

AMM chief executive officer Jess Jennings said the funding will provide a perfect opportunity for the museum, which is coming together steadily at Tremain's Mill, to present itself to the public for the first time.

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"We genuinely hope the virtual tour and education modules will encourage visitors to start engaging with the museum online; this funding is essentially the ticket to our first customers," Dr Jennings said.

Dr Jennings said the education modules will aim to engage 5000 NSW primary school students over the firstt five years, and will be encouraged to visit the Tremain's Mill complex either in person or virtually [via the virtual tour].

"We want to make these education modules as fun as possible," Dr Jennings said.

"We're trying to bring gamification and digital play into the virtual tour, which we feel will punctuate the many interesting facets of the museum.

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"An interesting fact is heritage Australian mills, on average, either burned down or had a catastrophic explosion every two years, so these are the sorts of information that'll allow us to create exciting educational offerings for students of all abilities.

"I quite like the idea of creating a game where students have to mill as much grain as possible before the museum blows up; you have to think outside the box when it comes to educating primary school children."

NSW Deputy Premier and Bathurst MP Paul Toole, who has been a vocal supporter of the AMM, said the delivery of the grant is about supporting the state's cultural industry.

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"There's a lot of history behind this AMM, and this funding will help tell the story of the milling industry and is historical importance to NSW and Australia," Mr Toole said.

"An interactive virtual tour and education modules will bring the storied history of milling to life, and fit in with the current curriculum for primary school students, and it's important for young people to understand our history."

The state government provided a $100,000 grant in 2018 to help the AMM become a reality.

For more information on the AMM, visit australianmillingmuseum.org.au.

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