History loving students advise museum

A group of National Star students are helping the Museum of Gloucester develop their education resources. Curators were told how they could improve the contents of loan boxes to make them more accessible for disabled people.

Loans boxes are currently being redeveloped at the museum because of money from the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). The students looked at boxes that covered the Victorians, Tudors, Romans and Pre-History. They used functional skills, such as reading and maths, to evaluate and produce feedback.

For student Tilly, her favourite box was the Victorian school box because her favourite activity was writing using a quill.

Student Hannah said ‘My favourite thing was learning about what each item was used for and how it has changed.’

Students recommended that more sensory items to smell or touch and recorded sounds were added to the boxes. Now it is hoped that students will also contribute stories included in the boxes.

Philip Walker, Head of Cultural Services at Gloucester City Council said: ‘We’re so excited to hear what the National Star students thought and to include their ideas and stories into the new loan boxes that will be available later in the year.’

Paul Tarling, National Star’s Enrichment and Community Engagement Coordinator, hopes the project is the beginning of a new partnership with the Museum of Gloucester. ‘This is the start of a fact-finding and fun collaboration with the Museum of Gloucester,’ says Paul. ‘We’re looking forward to more project work, sensory exploration and access to our past in the months to come – creating a little of our own history on the way.’