Bishop visits South Shields school to find out more about classes held at museum

Hadrian Primary School and Arbeia Roman Fort joined forces to see if the national curriculum could be delivered in a museum environment.

For one term, a year five class from the school in Fort Street, had their lessons at the fort.

The pilot was also carried out in Liverpool and Swansea with a report ‘My Primary School as a Museum’ compiled by Kings College, London. It found the resources of a museum have the ability to enhance and enrich the learning experience.

Bishop of Durham Paul Butler, who read the report at the House of Lords, paid a visit to Hadrian Primary to find out more of the impact the project had on teaching and learning. He was also taken on a tour of Arbeia Roman Fort led by pupils.

Year five teacher, Stephanie Christie, said: “‘My Primary School is at the Museum’ has been a fantastic opportunity for Hadrian Primary and Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum to reconnect and for the children and teaching staff to regain a sense of ownership and identity with what is after all their own heritage.”

The project was designed to explore the idea of co-location. The findings are pertinent to a debate about how schools can nurture creative, flexible and confident thinkers at the same time as ensuring children are ready for tests and exams.

Scott Brown, Headteacher said: “The project has highlighted this innovative way of working benefits not only children, teachers and museum educators, but also parents, and potentially, the wider community.”