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Coventry museums work together to boost primary school visits

24 June 2013

Pupils from Coventry’s Limbrick Wood Primary School are among the first to benefit from a new three-year initiative just launched by the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum and Coventry Transport Museum, in partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to help primary school teachers to arrange more museum visits and bring the curriculum to life for their groups.

Using funding from the Arts Council and the Department for Education, the two museums are working together to offer heavily discounted ‘£5 package’ deals, whereby schools can pay just £5 per pupil to take part in three different education sessions at the museums throughout the school year.  The funding has also enabled the museums to offer travel bursaries of up to £350 per year group, to pay for coach transport for schools who would otherwise struggle to afford the visit.

The scheme is already proving popular with teachers, with over 1500 pupils already booked in to take advantage of the great savings offered on a wide range of high quality educational sessions at both the Herbert and Coventry Transport Museum.

Emma Hewitt, Museums & Schools Project Manager said of the scheme:

“Both Coventry Transport Museum and the Herbert have a really strong primary schools offer, and many thousands of children come through the doors of both museums each year to have a great time taking part in educational sessions.  By working together in this way, we’re able to give pupils even more opportunities to get out of the classroom and into museums, thus sparking their curiosity and encouraging a lifelong passion for culture and learning.”

Marie Bromwich from Limbrick Wood Primary School, who has already taken advantage of the scheme with her class, said:

“The museums are a fantastic local resource that we enjoy using to support our topics in school. Having the opportunity to get hands-on with museum objects really brings the children’s learning to life. Having this special £5 deal and travel bursary has been brilliant for us because it has enabled us to bring the children into Coventry museums more regularly than we would otherwise be able to, and this has really reinforced their understanding of the topics.”

Peter Knott, Area Director, Arts Council England said:

“It’s exciting to see how the activities offered through the Museums and schools programme are inspiring a generation to support their education, both now and in the future.  Arts Council England believes that every child and young person should have the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts and of culture and programmes like this are helping us to achieve that.”

The £5 Coventry Museums scheme is open to all primary schools who would like to engage their pupils in visits to museums.  Sessions are available at the Herbert and Coventry Transport Museum covering a wide variety of topics and curriculum areas, from the Romans to 21st century transport, and from sculpture to wheel design. 

Click here for full details, or telephone Coventry Transport Museum on 024 7623 4270 or the Herbert on 024 7629 4746.