• 'I saw a really great WW2 resource, but then couldn’t find it again—it was really frustrating as I knew it was there!
• 'It would be so much easier if all the videos and interactives were together in one place'
• 'There is often so much information that the really useful stuff is hard to find— I simply don’t have time to read anything below the fold

The good news is that we can do something about it, and have already begun to make improvements. The My Learning team really listened and have responded by:

• Integrating Google searching software so teachers can now search for specific topics and keywords

• You will soon be able to get to interactives, audio, video and image galleries, worksheet libraries and quizzes direct from the homepage.

• We are training our museum people to put themselves in the shoes of the user and really tailor the content—asking for teachers input wherever possible.

Feren’s Art Gallery

Queen Victoria Square

Hull Museum Education and Hull College of Art and Design have produced a new learning package developed as a live project, in which Hull's Madame Clapham Costume is the focus.

For further information or if you would like to talk to a member of the Education Team contact us on Tel: 01482 318733.

When collecting evidence about artefacts students can choose to take a photo, write a comment or record an audio response. OOKL is a converged learning platform that supports most subjects in the National Curriculum including art and design, science, history, ICT and citizenship. This is a partnership project with East Sheffield City Learning Centre.

To find out more about OOKL workshops contact Jacqueline O'Neil on 0114 278 2653.  To book a session call Lucy Edwards on 0114 278 2655.

Students use Ultra-Mobile PCs to follow trails around the Museum about the Ancient Egyptians or animal adaptation. Children watch video clips, record their answers using a microphone or by typing and play games to test what they’ve learnt. Their work can then be accessed once back at school or at home, via an online blog.

These trails are targeted at Year 6 pupils but year 5 students and gifted and talented year fours would also enjoy and learn from a session.

The Chinese wallpaper, depicting scenes of Chinese life, was ‘lost’ for 150 years until 1988, when around twenty rolls were rediscovered in a carpenter’s loft in one of the outbuildings on the Harewood Estate. Subsequent research has shown that the rolls form a completed scheme thought likely to have been commissioned by Edwin Lascelles and installed in 1769 in the Chintz Bedroom as part of the decoration of the then newly built Harewood House. In the mid 1990s the rolls of wallpaper were conserved to a level that would allow them to be stored for future use. Restoration work on the wallpaper has been carried out in Gloucestershire by the country’s foremost historic wallpaper conservator Allyson McDermott, who has said that in her opinion: “It is one of the best examples of Chinese wallpaper in the world. The colours are wonderful and the quality of painting extraordinary. What Harewood has is something wonderful and unique”.

For Harewood House Trust, Curator of Decorative Arts, Melissa Gallimore commented; “It is wonderfully exciting that this unique Chinese wallpaper will be hung at Harewood for everyone to see after being lost for so many years and will be available for the public to view from March 2008”.

The East Bedroom currently displays the suite of Chinese-style japanned furniture supplied by Thomas Chippendale to accompany this wallpaper. The suite will be retained in the room and be reunited with the wallpaper that it originally complemented.

The conservation and re-hanging of the wallpaper has been made possible by a grant of £83,300, jointly funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Wolfson Foundation, with further financial support being provided by the Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation with a grant of £38,900.

Media contact: John Martin, Press Officer, Harewood House Trust.

Tel: 0113 218 1024

Email: press@harewood.org

Footnote: As the Chintz Bedroom is not available to the visiting public and the decorative scheme is of historic interest in its own right, the East Bedroom has been chosen as a suitable site as the paper can be easily configured to fit the room.

The museum's hugely popular and award winning session - which helped towards its recent second Sandford Award for education provision - has been adapted so it can be taken out to schools while the museum is closed.

"We didn't want school children to miss out on Bagshaw's excellent and thoroughly fun session on Ancient Egypt. So, if schools can't come to us while the museum is closed, we will go to the schools," commented Cllr Liz Smaje, Kirklees Cabinet Member for Leisure and Neighbourhood Services.

For further information contact Ruth McDonald, Assistant Museum Officer, Bagshaw Museum, tel: 01924 326155, email:

ruth.mcdonald@kirklees.gov.uk

Please show your support for Roots 2 Shoots by visiting:

www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/peoplesmillions where you can either get the phone number to call or register your vote online (The phone number is only released on the day of voting so we are unable to give you it today).

The Sobriety Project

You can also take in a living history performance by Fred who will be on hand in the Pithead Baths to give you an invaluable insight into the weird and wonderful life of a miner from Monday 22 to Friday 26 October.

The free family workshops encourage creativity, learning and above all fun!

Whilst on your visit to the Museum, you could also go on the underground tour, see the displays and exhibitions on coal mining through the ages, visit Hope Pit, and enjoy the nature trail and adventure playground - all of which are free!

The spooky sessions will be running at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, and last for approximately 45 minutes. When you get to the Museum, call in at Reception to book a session. Children must have a parent or guardian with them. For more information call the Museum on 01924 848806.

There’s no need to book Big Draw workshops simply drop in at the Learning Curve. Children must have a parent or guardian with them during the workshops.

• Exploring Islamic Architecture
  Investigating Islamic architecture in the painting 'The Arab Weaver' by Armand Point, from Bradford Museums and Galleries' collections
  
  
• Ruskin Resource - Art, Society and Ideology
  Exploring John Ruskin at Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust, including a section on the Decorated Gothic style

Families are invited to let their imaginations run wild picturing how a museum or gallery of the future might look.

At York Art Gallery…

At the Yorkshire Museum…

At York Castle Museum…

Free

Book in advance

• William Wilberforce - the life and political and social achievements of Hull's most famous son.
  
  
• Bitter Sweet History - aspects of the British slave trade, including Fair Trade and the many forms of slavery that still exist today
  
  
• The Message: Creative Campaigning - how artworks can be used to create public awareness
  
  
• Campaign! Make an Impact - Hull schoolchildren act out the Great Abolition Debate and create a Graphic e-Novel

Ancient Egyptians wanted to preserve the body for all eternity and believed that an afterlife could only exist if there was a form the ka (soul) could repossess after death. This is why they spent so long on the process of mummification and why Pharoahs began the building of their tombs in life.

If that’s not enough excitement for you, you can take in a living history performance by Mrs Lockwood, a wartime miner’s wife; and Fred will be on hand in the Pithead Baths to give you an invaluable insight into the weird and wonderful life of a miner.

Children love the chance to accompany an ex-miner on an underground tour, where they don a hard hat and lamp and travel 140 metres down one of Britain’s oldest working mines and learn about the history of mining and the role young children used to play in the pit.

There is so much to do for free at the National Coal Mining Museum this summer, so make sure you pay a visit!

• Painting Pots workshops will take place between 1.00pm-4.00pm between 13 – 17 August at Hope Pit.
• There are bookable slots for ‘Out of School’ Clubs and other organised children’s groups that will run during the week on Wednesday and Thursday at 11.00 am.
• Hope Store will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12.30pm – 4.00pm during the summer holidays.
• Conservation workshops will take place at Hope Store at 2.00pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during the summer holidays.
• Living History performances will take place at 11am, 12pm, 1pm & 2pm. Fred will be at the Pithead Baths Monday, Tuesday & Friday with Sally Fletcher at the 1842 Gallery on Wednesday & Thursday.
• Free admission

• Free car and coach parking
• Opening hours 10.00 am – 5.00 pm daily except for 24-26 December and 1 January
• Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times
• Please arrive early to book onto an underground tour, as at busy periods tours are often fully booked by midday
• Temperature underground is 12°C; we strongly recommend warm practical clothing and sensible flat shoes. Unfortunately children under five years old are not permitted on the underground tour
• Indoor play area for children under five
• Disabled facilities include level parking, ramp and disabled toilets with underground tours also available with prior arrangement
• For more information please call the Museum on 01924 848806 or email info@ncm.org.uk or visit the website at http://www.ncm.org.uk/

The course will start at 6.30 p.m. on 9^th October with the first of eight taught sessions which form a module on RESEARCH METHODS in EDUCATION. Subsequent sessions will be organised in the light of wishes and needs of the participants. The group will also continue to meet as necessary over four terms so that participants can discuss their investigations and provide support for each other.

Based around the story of the Caphouse mineral railway, much of the research for the exhibition was originally carried out by local historians, who spoke with workers on the line. The Museum will be pleased to hear from people with memories of the Caphouse mineral railway or those who worked on it.

Coal from Caphouse Colliery, and other collieries owned by the Lister Kaye family, had to be delivered to customers throughout Yorkshire and beyond. The key element in this transportation was the mineral railway, which was constructed in the early 1850s, and for almost 100 years linked the collieries with the canal and mainline railway network.

Coals to Calder Grove will explore the history of this small but fascinating railway. The special exhibition will examine why the railway was needed, how it was constructed and operated and what remains of it almost sixty years on.

For more information, contact the Museum on 01924 848806.

The grant was awarded by MLA (Museums, Libraries & Archives) and will be spent on equipment, training and consultancy. Video conferencing will enable the museum to expand its outreach programme on a national level and to reach learners who may find it difficult to get to the museum or access its resources.

During the first phase of the project the museum is targeting primary schools with two specially designed workshops, ‘Meet the Miner’, where pupils are given the opportunity to hear about a typical ‘day in the life’ of a miner and ask the miner questions about his experiences underground. The second workshop is ‘Stories from a Bevin Boy’ during which pupils learn about coal mining’s contribution to WWII through the recollections of a Bevin Boy.

Video conferencing has proved to be extremely popular so far with Bolton Brow Junior School, Oyster Park Junior School and Kiverton Park Meadows Junior School already having taken advantage of the Museum’s new interactive activities.

For more information on video conferencing or to book your school in please call the Museums’ Education Officer, Jayne Ambrose on 01924 848806.

• Video conferencing sessions take place at 9:00am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
• Sessions need to be booked at least 72 hours in advance.
• For more information please call the Museum on 01924 848806 or email info@ncm.org.uk or visit the website at http://www.ncm.org.uk/
• For details of the educational workshops linked with the museum please contact Jayne Ambrose on 01924 848806.

• ESOL Learners Visit Leeds City Art Gallery
  
  
• Kirklees Library Service Skills for Life Pack
  
  
• Rotherham Family History Pack
  
  
• Adult Learners Visit Leeds Central Library
  
  
• Adult Learners Visit Leeds Art Gallery
  

Every day during the half-term holiday, the Museum will also host their famous living history performances, which tell stories of life at a pit and provide a good chance for visitors to ask questions. Free drop in half-term art and craft workshops will also be run from Monday, 28 May – Friday 1 June in the Museum’s Learning Curve from 1pm – 4pm.

The Museum is also a great place to enjoy the outdoors and families can follow the nature trail with our brand new FREE activity booklet, or let off steam in our adventure playground.

Visitors can stroll up to Hope Pit, the recently-restored colliery complex, where there’s now even more to discover about the science of mining.

There is also the famous underground tour with an ex-miner guide, hands-on interactive exhibitions and a stable yard with retired pit ponies.

Best of all, these are all FREE: a fantastic day out!

• Opening hours 10.00am – 5.00pm, all year, except 24-26 December and 1 January
• Free admission to all visitors
• Free car and coach parking
• Visitors are strongly recommended to visit Reception on arrival and book places on activities and the underground tour. There are a limited number of places and demand is high
• We recommend warm clothing and sensible shoes if you are planning on going underground
• Under 5s are not allowed underground. There is an under 5s’ indoor play area. Children must be supervised at all times
• Disabled facilities include level parking, ramp and disabled toilets with underground tours also available with prior arrangement

Email info@ncm.org.uk

Telephone 01924 848806

Fax 01924 844567

• The half-term workshops last 45 minutes and can accommodate up to 20 children
• The workshops are not available to pre-booked groups. All children must be accompanied by an adult

Animal Art - Saturday 19th May 1- 4

Be inspired by the new animal exhibition at Cartwright Hall Fins, Feathers and Fur. Create your own animal artwork and a frame for your masterpiece.

For more information call the education team at Cartwright Hall on 01274 431216

Use these quick links below:

• Today's Citizens: Past Lives, Beverley
  
  
• Through a Child's Eye (Huddersfield)
  
  
• Rotherham Family History Pack (for Adult Learners)
  
  
• North Yorkshire County Record Office (6 learning journeys on food and diet, class, healthy eating)

External funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council England (Yorkshire) is enabling the Yorkshire Hub to deliver China in Yorkshire, a significant project to uncover Chinese treasures held in the region and to make them widely accessible through the development of localised exhibitions. Chinese artists will also be commissioned to provide contemporary responses to the exhibitions taking place in Sheffield and Bradford.

The regional museums services in Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield and York are working in partnership to develop the project. One of the key activities is a community engagement programme with local community groups. Their involvement will be as co-curators for the exhibitions, choosing items to display and assisting with interpretation.

A wider partnership with other museums in the region is also in development. Areas such as regional branding, staff training and development, learning resources and loans are just some of the areas of collaboration already identified.

Nick Dodd, chief executive of Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust, is excited about the possibilities of the project, “China in Yorkshire is a perfect project for us. It starts with a nationally important objective - to celebrate the Olympiad – and creates a relevant, timely and inspirational partnership allowing curators to work with the community, the community to engage with the collections and endowing the collections with new perspectives and a renewed cultural life within the region and internationally.”

For more information contact rebecca.lee@sheffieldgalleries.org.uk

Every Child Matters

I’m telling you

He’s challenging

She won’t engage

He’s under achieving

It’s so not cool

I can’t be bothered

There will be opportunities for pupils to debate issues and to role play so as to understand how decisions were made in the past, and to make connections with issues for today and the future.

The offer

Sheffield Archives and Sheffield Local Studies Library are offering teacher placements to help prepare an interactive educational resource between now and March 2007. The project, Victorian Values – revisiting the urban experience, will use material from Sheffield Archives and Sheffield Local Studies Library to look at education, crime and punishment, health and environment, citizenship and local democracy, and Sheffield’s diverse communities. The project is funded by MLA Yorkshire. Teachers will:

• assess and interpret selected material
• encourage students to use and appraise material
• participate in the final selection of material to be digitised
• develop and pilot lesson plans using the selected images
• participate in professional development activities for themselves and for other project partners.

The project will encourage professional development for teaching, archive, library and museum staff by arranging shadowing sessions, including some in school classrooms. The project will also involve specialist staff to develop ways to use the material through role-play and creative writing.

The project will be made available on CD-Rom and on the My Learning website.

There is funding to pay for cover for teachers’ time out of the classroom or to pay teachers directly for time outside school hours as well as reasonable expenses involved in professional development activities.

Contact as soon as possible for further information:

Judith Phillips, Sheffield Archives, 52 Shoreham Street, Sheffield S1 4SP Tel: 0114 203 9395 Email: archives@sheffield.gov.uk

Based around the collection from The Metalwork Gallery at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, this trail is designed for parents and their young children (3-6 years) to discover a little bit of Sheffield's history together

• Meet the experts and creatures! (Stone carver, live bats and moths)
• Big Survey of the day
• Fascinating Fact table
• Storytelling
• Face painting

The films include the test promo for Fatboy Slim’s Rockerfeller Skank video, in a rare chance to view it in its raw and complete form alongside the video for the Chemical Brothers’ Let Forever Be, by Michel Gondry, widely credited to be the most inventive music video director in the world.

onedotzero have a particular interest in work that explores and develops animation, motion graphics and digital effects. onedotzero represents a select catalogue of innovative filmmakers, programming new talent that mixes media, styles and techniques.  The result is the production of startling original work, often drawn from non-traditional areas such as graphic design, illustration, new media and club backgrounds.

onedotzero is also known worldwide for its annual digital film festival, held in London where they are based, for which they commission and collate over 200 hours of original material.  They work commercially for a number of leading brands including producing the European launch video for the Sony Playstation 2 console, work for Adobe Europe, Sony computer entertainment Europe, Levi Strauss, Absolute Vodka, Motorola, Apple Sweden and Deutsche Bank, London. 

ondotzero's touring shows are a regular fixture in the annual Lovebytes Festival  in Sheffield. Spectrum  is being presented as part of 'Lovebytes at the Millennium Galleries', a series of exhibitions on the plasma screens in the Millennium Galleries foyer curated by Lovebytes in association with Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust.