Everyone remembers their school trips, and more than 77,000 children will never forget their visit to one of the Museums of Cheshire last year.
Our museums and galleries offer a wealth of memorable and exciting learning experiences, for the youngest school pupils through to postgraduate students. We cover a broad range of themes across the arts, history and science to enhance your classroom teaching, many of which are presented in their original historical settings. Contact our venues to find out more.
Our museums are all part of the excellent Heritage Learning Network North West, which ensures that the learning teams across our sites are kept up to date with good practice and latest initiatives in education, and able to give you great advice in finding the perfect place to visit with your school, to inspire and engage the pupils with a trip to remember. A full list of the educational visits in Cheshire, searchable by Key Stage and subject area, can be found on the network’s website.
Fancy exploring the great outdoors? Then visit Tatton Park’s 1,000 acres of deer park, or the ruins of medieval Norton Priory. Also learning about our inventive Victorian ancestors? A wander along the canals and locks of the National Waterways Museum may be just the ticket.
If your pupils are meeting the Romans then visit Chester’s Grosvenor Museum where they can practice drill and shield formations with a Roman soldier. All children love Ancient Egypt, and West Park Museum has a stunning collection of artefacts collected by a local Victorian explorer. And Victorian Cheshire is well represented in many of our venues.
The theme of war features across many of the Museums of Cheshire. Life as a wartime child can be explored through Congleton Museum’s Second World War evacuation experience, where children can step into a real air raid shelter. The lives of soldiers in wartime are revealed at Cheshire Military Museum, while at Englesea Brook Chapel children can learn about conscientious objectors and discuss the moral questions raised by conflict.
The secrets of science are revealed through Catalyst’s fantastic programme of themed workshops at their Catalytic Discovery Lab. Can your class solve the Catalyst Crime Scene Mystery?
If your class loves storytime then Warrington Museum is worth a visit as it offers Gruffalo, Hungry Caterpillar and Alice-themed learning sessions. Children can also get creative and invent their own stories with Englesea Brook Chapel’s magic lantern.
The local museums at Congleton and Nantwich are great for pupils studying urban geography, helping them explore how towns develop and are shaped by their environment, local industries and sometimes even by accident, as in the case of the Great Fire of Nantwich. There’s a whole garden village to explore at Port Sunlight Museum, the site of one of our earliest and best surviving examples of social housing.
If your pupils are addicted to Minecraft – whose aren’t? – then Birkenhead Priory could be the place for you, with its range of cross-curricular, digital activities including Minecraft: Build Your Own Priory.
