SEMLAC case study: Cultural Entitlement
Title
Stakeholders
Location
Duration
Grant
Project
Benefits
Developing outreach at the Agricultural Museum, Brook
part of the Kent Cultural Entitlement (CE) programme
Agricultural Museum, Brook, Ashford
Canterbury City Council Museums & Galleries Service
(CCCMGS)
Brook Community Primary School, Brook
Kent, South East region
July 2005 – June 2006
£20k from SEMLAC’s Strategic Commissioning Programme
funded by DCMS and DfES through the Museum, Library and
Archive Council (MLA) for the whole CE model
This case study focuses on one aspect of the Kent CE model,
which explored how museum learning could be embedded
into the National Curriculum through a ‘pupil-led’ development
approach. This particular element focused on the partnership
between one of the smaller independent museums
(Agricultural Museum, Brook) and one school (Brook
Community Primary) in Kent through the development of new
learning provision. The museum worked in depth with the
teacher and pupils to explore and develop ideas for outreach
resources.
A number of benefits have resulted for the museum and
school involved. Staff at the museum are much more
confident about approaching and working with schools and
the production of a resource has raised the profile of the
museum to local schools.
The teachers have a more positive attitude towards the
museum and an enhanced understanding of how the
collection can be used across the curriculum. The pupil-led
approach has enabled the children to have a role and voice in
the development of the new resources, which will be available
for other children to use in the future.
This case study is written for government and cultural organisations interested
in the development of a cultural offer to schools. It will also be useful for
museums who are not already working with schools, but who wish to begin
development of learning programmes.
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Audience and purpose
The Agricultural Museum, Brook is an independent museum with a diverse
agricultural collection housed in 14th century barn. It is situated in an isolated rural
area and is managed by a team of 2 staff and around 20 volunteers. The limited
staffing, location and opening times have made a pro-active approach to working
with schools difficult in the past. The museum receives only a few visits from
schools each year and had little experience of working with this audience. The
museum has acknowledged its potential educational role and was keen to
discover how the collection could be made more accessible to local schools.
In order to begin to develop learning provision, museum staff worked in depth
with teachers and pupils at the local primary school. Museum staff were keen to
find out more about how their collections could be relevant within the National
Curriculum and how they could encourage the local school (and others) to use
their resources. This project was supported by an Education Programme Coordinator, who was funded as part of the wider CE programme to work at
CCCMGS and 2 other smaller museums in Kent, who developed similar provision.
Project aim
All of the Cultural Entitlement models shared the same aims:
Supply: To increase the capacity of museums to work with schools.
Demand: To meet the demand from schools for museum learning.
Brokerage: To broker partnerships between museums and schools.
Specific objectives included:
 A pupil-centered focus to enable pupils to lead the process of determining
what they would like to see and do on a visit to the museum.
 Recording of pupil responses of their experiences at the museum and in
school.
 Enabling pupils to conduct their own research using primary sources
during the process of consultation.
 Enabling pupils to make recommendations for the development of learning
provision at the museum and to respond to these accordingly.
 Developing some learning resources for use at the museum as a result of
the process.
 Using the process of working with schools as a tool for further
development of education provision at the museum.
 To work alongside the other 2 museums involved in the CE model, with
support from CCCMGS in order to develop a best practice approach to
education through information and skill sharing.
The process
1. Initial contact made with school
Prior to contact being made with the school, initial ideas were explored between
the Education Programme Co-ordinator and museum staff. A visit to the museum
was made to gain more of an understanding about the set up, the collections and
what would be possible. The museum met with the other museum partners in the
wider programme to explore the concept of ‘pupil-led development’ and the need
to provide learning experiences which were interactive, creative and enjoyable.
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The Education Co-ordinator then made contact with the school on behalf of the
museum. A visit to the school to meet the Headteacher and class teachers
resulted in two teachers’ involvement at Year 1/2 and Year 5/6.
2. School visits to museum
As a result of this initial contact, both classes from Brook primary visited the
museum. The pupils were introduced to the collection by the Curator, they took
part in a question and answer session and looked at artefacts and archive
materials. The pupils also took their own photographs and video recording as a
record of their visit and for their follow up work back in school.
3. Outreach sessions at school
A series of sessions with the museum staff and Education Co-ordinator followed at
school. Based on their visit, the Year 1/2 pupils made suggestions for ways in
which the museum could be more child and family friendly. The Year 5/6 pupils
made suggestions for the development of loan boxes, so further work was
conducted with the pupils on developing ideas for the content and interpretation of
objects for these loan boxes. This also presented an opportunity for the museum
staff to familiarise themselves with the school context and classroom-based
learning.
4. Ongoing evaluation
Pupils’ perceptions of museums were traced at the preliminary stage in order to
record any changes by the end of the project. Questionnaires and interviews were
conducted with the pupils and teachers in order to monitor learning and progress.
The teachers also made classroom based observations on progress and benefits of
the work to the individual pupils and the school as a whole.
5. Museum partnerships
Alongside this work, museum staff participated in a workshop on the development
of museum loan boxes for schools, together with other museum partners. This
provided an opportunity to find out more about the concept of museum learning in
general as well as specific information and advice about the process of developing
loan boxes. It was also a chance for networking and information sharing between
partners.
6. Development of resources
Pupil participation resulted in the development of two loan boxes covering different
themes, relevant to the. The pupils selected objects which they regarded as
interesting to include in the boxes. Based on their suggestions, the objects will be
combined with stories, pictures and written sources, as well as notes for teacher’s
work.
Benefits for the participants and the organisation
Knowledge and understanding
The museum has a much greater understanding of factors which contribute to the
successful development of learning provision for schools. Staff are much more
aware of teacher and school priorities and how this relates to their work at the
museum. They are also now more confident to pursue this based on their new
knowledge and experience. The pupils have a greater awareness of their local
history and know much more about the museum collection. The school has been
able to develop a resource bank of materials relating to the museum which will be
accessed by other pupils in the future.
Skills
Teachers, in particular, have valued the opportunity for the children to access and
research primary and secondary sources. Pupils are now much more confident
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and skilled to do this. The evaluation processes have also been embraced by the
teachers as opportunities for the children’s reflection on their own learning.
Attitudes and values
Teachers can now see the potential for linking museum collections with a wide
range of subjects in and out of the curriculum. Their perception about what the
museum can offer has changed and is now more positive as a result of the proactive approach. Teachers have also valued the children’s participation in activities
that have a “real purpose” and will benefit other pupils in the long term.
Participation has also helped the museum to value partnership work and the
benefits it can provide and staff are also encouraged by the school’s enthusiasm
about museums.
Enjoyment, inspiration and creativity
Teachers have reported how the pupils have been inspired by the experience.
They now have a greater connection with the local community as a result of
participating, and a familiarity between museum staff and pupils in school.
Teachers have also been encouraged by exploring the link between museums and
their creative potential to advance cross curriculum work.
Activity, behaviour and progression
The museum has been able to lay the foundations for further education
development based on a best practice approach. Staff are now involved in another
project with the school (with a World War Two theme) which resulted from this
work. It has been much easier for the museum to contribute based on their
experience from this project. The museum has also been in contact another local
school and discussions have begun about how they could work together in the
future.
Learning
1. Gaining the interest and enthusiasm of the school and individual teachers, in
particular, was crucial to the project’s success. This was such a successful
element that the teacher has become a great advocate of the museum and
will help to give advice and support to the museum in the future.
2. It was also beneficial to have an exclusive focus on work with one school – a
local school. This was a very useful way of starting to set up learning
resources, rather than trying to achieve too much at once. This was also a
two way process, with opportunities for equal contributions from the museum
and school, which was also the key to success.
3. Advice and guidance from the other partners was also an important element.
It was useful to be able to talk to museums professionals about their
experiences and to benefit from the practical advice/support they were able
to offer.
Sustainability and next steps
A number of new ideas have been generated across other areas of work.
The museum is reconsidering the interpretation of the collection and how this could
become more family friendly. This will have obvious benefits for a wide range of
visitors. The school will also be involved in the museums’ annual art exhibition and
the pupils will be creating art work to be displayed alongside professional work.
The museum is also planning to work with further local schools with a target of
engaging two schools for 2007 and three for 2008. The Year 5/6 teacher involved
is currently looking at other areas of the curriculum the museum could link to in the
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syllabus next year and increasing the number of visits they make to the museum
with pupils.
Contact details
Thomas Hill - Secretary and Brian Wimsett - Curator
Wye Rural Museum Trust,
Agricultural Museum Brook,
The Street,
Brook, Ashford
Kent, TN25 5PF
E: hill.ta@tiscali.co.uk or brianwimsett@hotmail.com
Vasiliki Tzibazi, Education Programme Co-ordinator
Canterbury City Council Museums & Galleries Service (CCCMGS)
18 High Street
Canterbury. CT1 2RA
T: 01227 475 225
E: vasiliki.tzibazi@canterbury.gov.uk
Case study written by Lisa Kerley in collaboration with project partners.
Email: lisa.kerley@inspir-ed.co.uk
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