Work by pupils from six Scottish schools is being exhibited alongside the only two existing contemporary documents relating to William Wallace at the Scottish Parliament.

The parliament’s presiding officer Tricia Marwick said this was one of the “most exciting exhibitions” the Scottish Parliament had hosted.

Special Delivery: The William Wallace Letters includes a 700-year-old letter about Wallace from French King Philip IV, as well as the Lubeck letter issued by William Wallace and Andrew Moray in 1297 after the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

The exhibition also showcases poems, news articles, video and audio material telling the story of William Wallace, produced by pupils from John Paul Academy and Craigholme School in Glasgow, Canal View Primary in Edinburgh, Croftmalloch Primary in Whitburn, John Logie Baird Primary in Helensburgh and Wester Hailes Education Centre in Edinburgh. These form part of a project with the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

George MacKenzie, the registrar general and keeper of the records at NRS, said that the aim had been to combine historic accounts with what today’s children thought about Wallace.

The Wallace letter was “like a text message of today, small and compressed,” he says. “If you think about the last text message you have sent, in a few hundred years, what will people make of that?”

Young visitors to the parliament can take part in a quiz on a mobile device while visiting the exhibition.

To coincide with the exhibition, the parliament’s education team and NRS are lining up a programme of events, including a national Glow Meet on 30 August, a CPD session for teachers on 31 August and workshops for upper primary and secondary schools between 3 and 7 September.