Lifelong Learning
The year 2005/6 saw the development of formal learning offered to school age children across all York Museums Trust sites, and the number of workshops taken up by schools rose by around 50 per cent. This was made possible through the Education Programme Delivery Plan which was funded through the Yorkshire Hub and the Renaissance in the Regions initiative. The learning team have worked extremely hard and have delivered a quality programme to schools.
A range of over 30 workshops and activities are now available for Key Stages one to four as well as pre-school and early years groups. The workshops spring from, and complement, the exhibitions and displays. We have developed strong links with local teachers through meet the teacher sessions, work placements and Initial Teacher Training.
July saw the production of the complete schools programme booklet for the formal learning offered at the Trust’s sites. This was an important step forward and is a major element in marketing for schools. It has been delivered to every school in Yorkshire and selected schools in the north east and will be used for all enquiries. A strong outreach effort proved effective in recruiting new schools. The booklet also marked the start of charging for additional school workshop activities. This charge is vital to ensure funds for the future development and expansion of the learning provision.
We have continued to work with partners across the city of York including the National Railway Museum, Young Archaeology Club, York Theatre Royal, the City Archives, and City of York Council.
Figures relating to workshops and partnership projects are listed in the Partnerships page of this report.
York Art Gallery
Children design plates as part of the ceramics-themed Big Draw 2005 at York Art Gallery.
The new Studio, created as a space for educational workshops as part of the Gallery refurbishment, has proved effective and popular.
A brand new programme of education workshops was offered to schools which included opportunities for older students to meet contemporary artists whose work was on display in the gallery. The gallery also hosted meetings of local primary and secondary art teachers, who were invited to take a guided tour of the newly developed gallery with the learning team, and talk about the new education opportunities which are now open to them. Both events were very successful, with teachers reacting positively to the new-look gallery and education programme.
Family First Saturday events were launched in April, and included activities inspired by the portraits on display in the gallery. These activities are free, drop-in and encourage visitors to engage with the exhibitions in a fun and enjoyable way. The curatorial teams have also presented lunchtime talks on specific paintings.
Yorkshire Museum
The Science and Archaeology teams based at the Yorkshire Museum have developed the foundation of the service for schools. We have created a number of new workshops and as a result there has been a substantial increase in the overall number of school age children visiting the Yorkshire Museum. The new exhibition Ice Age opened in May. A vital part of the exhibition was the Ice Lab, an interactive learning space in the exhibition. There was a comprehensive education programme which complemented the exhibition. We completed the Lab, our hub-funded learning space for science. This was opened during Science Week by some local young children and teachers. It is an exciting interactive space with collections, IT technology, white board, microscopes, digital cameras and computers. It is proving a great success.
During the May half-term holiday and the holiday periods in July, August and September the Ice Lab offered drop-in opportunities. These provided a chance for visitors to work with the learning team and curators to explore specific areas in more depth. A series of short talks, Lab Lunch Breaks, for an adult audience were also held throughout the summer holidays every Tuesday and Friday. Improvements to the permanent Roman and Viking archaeology galleries are now complete with opportunities for younger visitors to explore the collection including mosaic making, dressing up and hypocaust making.
York Castle Museum
The Wheel of Superstition, part of October half-term activities at York Castle Museum.
A comprehensive revision and evaluation of the education programme of workshops for schools was completed. It proved to be successful with a rise in the number of school children visiting York Castle Museum compared with the previous year.
In addition to the usual workshops, we have also delivered some more unusual sessions, including a Stitch in Time workshop for a group of Chinese Year 11 students, and the first Victorian Schoolroom for pupils under 8 years old. Following consultation with teachers, the old shop store in the cells is now in use as a lunch area, as well as being available as a valuable additional space for school workshops.
A comprehensive programme of family activities was run throughout all the holidays, and half terms. In May half-term holiday 1,357 people enjoyed the Making Faces activity, linked to the Tom Phillips postcards on show in the museum. In the summer holidays 5,990 Spy Games booklets were used by approximately 11,980 visitors to the museum. They were all taking part in the Spy Games activities organised for families. This was a great success and involved both front of house and learning staff. The activities formed part of the celebrations to commemorate the end of the Second World War.
Children create Ice Art inspired by the Ice Age exhibition.