My name is Kate Armitage and I’m an Education Project Officer for Hull Museums. I’ve been responsible for piloting the Museums in a Box project. An exciting new outreach service which facilitates the development of a mini museum your school.
Pupils led in every stage of the development of their museum from researching their artefact, writing their labels, inviting friends and family and showing them around their museum.
The Museum in a Box Project has been developed in partnership with two local schools; Maybury Primary School and Marfleet Primary School. Both schools were studying the Second World War.
One of the aims of the project was to raise attainment by increasing motivation and providing a new challenge for pupils. This project has been especially successful in raising attainment in literacy.
It has a particular emphasis on skills based learning.
It is designed to support new curriculum developments within Hull, in particular the changeover to thematic and cross-curricular teaching.
The Museum in a Box project is designed to embed cultural learning and creativity within your classroom and also contributes towards your children‘s enttitment to 5 hours of culture a week.
Hull Museums provided real museum artefacts from Hull Museums’ handling collections for use within the classroom and also in the in-school exhibitions.
Hull Museums provided two initial support sessions in school led by museum education. These introduced pupils to: what is a museum? investigating objects developing research skills; and object handling skills.
The project also included a visit to Hull & East Riding Museum. The aim of this was for pupils to research and develop the skills needed to create their museum in school.
Pupil’s also visited the Streetlife Museum to further their research into their World War Two topic.
Online support material was provided through the My Learning website to help teacher plan the writing of the labels, interpretation, publicity etc.
Pupil speaking:
Our class went to the museum and there was someone dressed up as if they were from the war, telling us lots of information. We had Kate from the museum come in to talk to us to help us all to make our own mini-museum in our classroom. They lent us an ARP warden’s helmet, a torch that had a flap so it wouldn’t shine up into the sky, a ration book and a clothing book. I learnt what the torch was for and what an ARP warden’s job was.
We have some professional stands that we stand our artefacts on and we’ve got work we have done on the walls. The other classes have come and had a look. We had a proper assembly about it where the teachers were telling the other classes about and we got to say what we thought about it. When it’s been the open evening all our parents got to see our museum and all the teachers and all the people from the school have been to see it. We all really enjoyed going to the museum because at the museum you get to learn more because you get to see artefacts and touch them.
Teacher speaking:
This year, not only have we been able to borrow artefacts from the museum which I have done in the past but we’ve been involved in piloting this new project that the museums are putting together with all the interaction involved and that’s what’s made our history project different.
The fantastic, high standard quality of work that we have got from the topic, particularly the literacy work, that has been commented but a lot of people who have come into school. The way they had the purpose of setting up the museum and the fantastic display they did in the hall to share with the rest of the school – all those things have just made it more purposeful and meaningful and I think has really fired their imagination and enthusiasm for what they were doing.
Pupil:
The thing I enjoyed the most was when we received the artefacts and we all sat down and talked about them.
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