Date issued: 29 November 2018
Hollytrees Museum was ‘taken over’ by Montgomery Junior school pupils, on Monday 26 November 2018, as part of Museums Takeover Day.
Takeover Day is a celebration of children and young people’s contributions to museums, galleries, arts organisations, archives and heritage sites. The pupils were given roles where they work alongside staff to participate in the life of the museum.
Over 30 pupils tried their hand at several roles alongside the Colchester Museums staff, including creating this year’s Castle Christmas trail, writing new information labels for some of the objects on display and designing shop displays in the Visitor Information Centre in Hollytrees Museum.
The work the children carried out contributes to their Arts Award Discover, a unique scheme which enables children up to the age of 25 to get involved in a wide range of arts, cultural and heritage activities and projects, by getting hands on experience whilst achieving qualifications to inspire future generations to work in the arts.
Cllr Tim Young, Portfolio Holder for Business and Culture and Deputy Leader of the Council, said: “Museums Takeover Day was a fantastic opportunity for this group of local school children. They really got to grips with the roles that exist within the Museums service and the children all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
“Initiatives such as this make museums more accessible for young people and provide an educational-but-fun experience.”
You can look back on the pupil’s experience of the day on social media on the Colchester Museums twitter feed @ColMuseums. Look out for the hashtag #TakeoverDay.
Colchester Museums offer a wide range of educational visits and resources, to find out more visit: http://www.cimuseums.org.uk/schools
Page last reviewed: 29 November 2018