Education

Lessons from our past at the Yorkshire Law and Order Museums

Victorian educational visits, Key Stages 1, 2 and 3

Come and enjoy some exciting 'first hand' learning experiences in original historic buildings.

Spend a day wearing period costume. Participate in a wide variety of interesting and memorable 19th Century activities, using a range of Victorian domestic, police, prison and courthouse objects.

Discover what life was like for a child in a Victorian workhouse; gain an insight into the work of the police; take part in a courthouse trial; spend time in a prison cell.

Visits are easily made on foot, as the museums lie within a few minutes walk of the central coach park. Schools visits take approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

The cost of an educational visit to the museums is £5.00 per child, with accompanying adults going free. Ripon Museum Trust is happy to advise you on the planning and tailoring of your particular visit to suit your specific themes or needs.

An education pack with ideas for cross-curricular follow-up activities will be available shortly.

Educational aims

We aim to develop knowledge and understanding through interaction, role play, participation, experience and investigation of Key Stage 1,2 and 3 National Curriculum and QCA programmes of study in history, literacy, personal, social, health, citizenship education, art, maths and geography.

We aim to develop positive attitudes and values through increased self-confidence and motivation as well as greater empathy and understanding towards other people and communities. Following a visit, pupils should realise how attitudes towards the poor changed during the Victorian era. Our programmes cover many of the requirements of personal, social, health and citizenship education.

We aim to develop thinking, communication and social skills through debates, decision-making and activities which focus on different interpretations of history to help children to make deductions based on historical primary sources. Children will have the opportunity to use their imagination and experience the lives of other people living in different places and times. We aim to stimulate curiosity and creativity and enable all children to experience success as learners during a memorable and enjoyable educational visit.

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Suggested outline of the day

Please note that the following suggested activities can be tailored to meet specific themes and needs, as required.

School parties, where possible, should arrive by 10:00 am or earlier.

The morning activities are centred around the restored Vagrant's Casual Ward of the City's former Union Workhouse (1854-1951), now the Workhouse Museum. Pupils should arrive in costume and 'in role' as paupers seeking food and shelter. They will be asked why they have become a burden on the parish.

Pupils will rotate to experience the four workhouse activities: -

  1. Laundry
  2. Schoolroom
  3. Role-play a family having to enter a workhouse and weigh food rations for different categories of inmate
  4. Victorian themed creative activity (children usually make a rag rug)

Pupils will usually be organised into groups of 12, with one responsible person available for each group. The teacher in charge must be free to supervise and to accompany groups of children during the changeover sessions.

In fine weather, if time allows, pupils will have the opportunity to do drill, whilst the other others may visit the souvenir shop, where many items are priced at £3 or below. Allow 15 minutes for each activity before the groups change over. Allow a further 15 minutes to eat a packed lunch before walking to the Prison and Police and Courthouse Museums.

During the afternoon, pupils will visit the Prison and Police and the Courthouse Museums. They will take part in a trial and if found guilty, the 'prisoner' will be escorted to the prison, and be locked up, possibly prior to deportation! Pupils will also experience the inside of a prison cell, try on prison and police uniforms and try out the 'tread mill', the cranking machine and the whipping stool.

The Courthouse Museum was a working courthouse until 1998. Pupils will role-play a trial. A script is available on request.

The Prison and Police Museum dates from 1816 and serves as a grim backdrop to illustrate the harsh conditions of prison life.

Our Key Stage 3 and 4 Educational programmes have a greater focus on The Courthouse and Prison Museums.

For all visits days can be adapted for different age groups and abilities and to fit in with the school's current themes of study.

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Preparing for a visit

It is essential that teachers leading their first visit attend a preparatory meeting in the Workhouse Museum to discuss their visit and to decide on the type of activities and preferred timetable.

For further information and booking forms, please telephone the Workhouse Museum on 01765 690799, or the museums' education adviser on 01765 603517 or e-mail: info@riponmuseums.co.uk.

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