Today’s pupils want and need more than just academic knowledge alone.
Schools are increasingly looking for meaningful ways to help children:
Develop confidence in speaking and listening
Build curiosity and ask thoughtful questions
Broaden horizons and cultural understanding
Strengthen community connection and belonging
Recognise that their voice matters
Local Heroes brings these priorities together through one structured, practical programme.
Designed for real, busy Primary classrooms
Not educational theory. Not additional workload.
A practical programme designed to fit around real classrooms, real teachers and real pupils.
Flexible Delivery
Seamlessly integrate Local Heroes into your busy timetable. It can be delivered through curriculum time, enrichment activities, clubs, or project-based learning.
Highly Manageable
Built to support whole-class participation. Structured activities, clear guidance and collaborative pupil roles make it easy for every child to contribute.
Curriculum-Friendly
Apply knowledge from English and History in a real-world context while ticking off your school's personal development goals.
Fully Supported
You don’t need expertise in oral history, filmmaking, or archive management. We provide practical guidance for recording interviews using everyday, accessible equipment.
Local Heroes is supported & run by UK-based experts
Both our programme & digital archive platform are guided by experienced educators, storytellers and archivists
Local Heroes has been developed by education specialists and the team behind Legasee, home to the UK's largest archive of veteran interviews. Combining proven storytelling expertise with a purpose-built digital platform, Local Heroes helps organisations create lasting archives that preserve local stories for future generations.
Discover one programme... that tackles three key school priorities
Rather than addressing these priorities separately, Local Heroes brings them together through real conversations, real people and shared community experiences.
Develop Oracy Skills
Help children become confident communicators through meaningful conversations with real people.
Build Cultural Capital
Expose pupils to different experiences, perspectives and stories from their local community.
Support Personal Development
Give children ownership, responsibility and the confidence to contribute to something meaningful.
How We Work ... tailor the programme to suit your classroom environment
The programme is designed to be highly structured yet flexible. Teachers direct the journey, while pupils take active, collaborative roles at every stage to build their confidence and communication skills.
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Access Your Guided Resources
Everything you need to get started is provided in one secure place, removing the burden of heavy planning.
Flexible Curriculum Plans
Ready-to-use activities that fit seamlessly into curriculum time, enrichment, or clubs.
Whole-Class Participation
Collaborative roles designed so children of all abilities and confidence levels can contribute.
Bespoke Preparation
Clear consent forms, safeguarding checklists, and parent letters are all ready to go.
Develop Oracy & Enquiry
Your class works together to identify an inspiring person in their community and prepares for the conversation.
Thoughtful Questioning
Children learn how to explore ideas, investigate experiences and frame meaningful questions.
Active Listening
We provide frameworks to help children listen carefully and engage respectfully.
Building Confidence
Pupils practice expressing their ideas in a safe, structured classroom environment.
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Capture the Community Story
Bring the learning to life by inviting your local hero in for a real, filmed conversation.
Accessible Equipment
No film crew needed. We provide practical guidance for recording high-quality interviews using everyday classroom equipment like iPads.
Pupil-Led Interviewing
Children take the lead in asking the questions, giving them a meaningful reason to communicate.
Teacher-Controlled Safety
You remain fully in control of what is recorded and reviewed before anything is published.
Build your Digital Legacy
Instead of a temporary wall display, your pupils' work becomes a permanent celebration of community connection.
Your Simple Digital Archive
We provide an easy-to-manage, secure digital platform dedicated entirely to your school.
Visible Evidence of Impact
Tangible proof of your school’s Oracy and Cultural Capital work to share with families, governors, and Ofsted.
A Growing Resource
Future cohorts can revisit, learn from and add new stories to your archive year after year.
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Develop & maintain a lasting legacy for your local community
Your young people will gain hands-on experience managing their own digital archive
Every interview, story and project contributes to a growing digital archive that celebrates the people, experiences and memories that shape your local community.
Unlike a display board or one-off event, Local Heroes creates something that can be revisited, expanded and shared for years to come. Created by participants, shared with others and preserved for future generations, it provides a lasting record of the conversations, memories and experiences that might otherwise be lost.
Celebrate the people who make your community unique
Capture and preserve stories for future generations
Strengthen connections between people and communities
Build a growing archive that can be revisited and expanded over time
Applications for our 2026 Early Adopter Cohort are now open!
Are you a Primary, Secondary School or Community Youth Organisation? Join the Local Heroes network and help young people discover and capture the extraordinary stories around them!
