Outreach

Duration: 1 hour | Age Range: Key Stage 1

Objectives

• To participate in an interactive retelling of the Three Little Pigs.
• To experience the process of making bricks by hand using clay.
• To know and understand how bricks were made in the past.
• To create free-standing structures using a variety of materials.
• To work cooperatively as part of a small team.

Overview

The children take part in an interactive storytelling session with plenty of opportunities to engage and join in with the presenter as well as taking on the role of the three little pigs with help from our puppets. Following the story, the group are split in half. One group explores traditional Black Country brick making techniques while the other explores free-standing structures using plastic straws, wooden lollipop sticks and Lego bricks.

Links to the National Curriculum

English (Year 1)

• Becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics.
• Recognising and joining in with predictable phrases.

English (Year 2)

• Becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales.

Design and Technology

• Build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable.

History

• Changes within living memory. Where appropriate these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life.
• A local history study.

Duration: 1 hour | Age Range: Key Stage 2 & 3

Objectives

• To gain an appreciation and understanding of traditional Black Country art, craft and design.
• To know how art and design reflect and shape our history and contributes to our culture.
• To have the opportunity to develop new skills and improve their mastery of art and design techniques.
• To develop confidence, competence, imagination and creativity.

Overview

Within the session, students will see some examples of canal art from our historical collection to help inspire their designs. Students will learn how to mix paint and with the help of stencils and sample shapes, they will make a beautiful design. At the end of the workshop, the students will have a completed canal art inspired tile to take home with them.

Links to the National Curriculum

Key Stage 2

Art and Design

• To improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials.

History

• A local history study.

Key Stage 3

Art and Design

• To use a range of techniques and media including painting.
• To increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials.

Duration: 45 minutes | Age Range: Key Stage 2 & 3

Objectives

• To know the dangers of working in a mine.
• To understand the developments of safety in a mine.
• To take part in an interactive show.
• To understand some of the problems faced by miners in the 1800s and how these were overcome.
• To experience chemical changes and the resulting products.

Overview

This interactive and lively show explores and explains why mining has always been a dangerous business. The students will see scientific demonstrations looking at flammable and inert gases including the problems each one causes. The students will then also see how miners would attempt to use air pressure to suck ‘bad air’ out of the mins to make them safe to work in. Finally, they will see first-hand Victorian ‘Health and Safety’ by seeing the presenter set themselves on fire in addition to creating a ‘fire tornado’ and the revolutionary ‘Davy Lamp’.

Links to the National Curriculum

Key Stage 2

History

• A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupil’s chronological knowledge beyond 1066.
• A local history study.

Key Stage 3

History

• Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain (1745-1901)
• A local history study

Science

• Understand that scientific methods and theories develop as earlier explanations are modified to take into account of new evidence and ideas, together with the importance of publishing results and peer review.

Duration: 1 hour | Age Range: Key Stage 2

Objectives

• To think about how we learn about the past.
• To consider what types of historical sources are available to a historian. 
• To make inferences based on information from a primary source.
• To encourage critical thinking to determine the reliability of sources.
• To understand the importance of referencing multiple sources.

Overview

This workshop explores how we can find out about the past from various sources of information. The students explore a wide range of primary sources including census documents, newspaper articles, maps, illustrations and artefacts to find out about what life was life in the past. The workshop also explores the process and the importance of using multiple sources of information to find out about the past.

Links to the National Curriculum

History

‘They should unterstand how our knowledge of the past comes from a range of sources”.

• A study of an aspect or theme that extends pupil’s chronological knowledge beyond 1066.
• A local history study.

Duration: 1 hour | Age Range: Key Stage 2 & 3

Objectives

• To experience and use the traditional techniques to create a rag rug.
• To design a mini rag rug using the heritage of the Museum as inspiration for their designs.

Overview

Through this workshop, students get an introduction to the traditional art of Rag Rugging. Students observe the traditional techniques of ‘hooking’ and ‘podging’ strips of fabric through hessian. Once the students are confident, they plan out their design and begin to craft their own miniature rag rug using a variety of colours. By the end of the workshop, they will have their mini rag rug.

Links to the National Curriculum

Key Stage 2

Art and Design

• To improve their mastery of art and design techniques.

History

• A local history study.

Key Stage 3

Art and Design

• To use a range of techniques and media, including painting.
• To increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials.
• About the history of art, craft, design and architecture, including periods, styles and major movements from ancient times to the present day.