Why take part?

The museum had taken part in the past and our Curator was keen for us to participate again. We heard about the 2022 dates and the national theme of wellbeing through the Kids in Museums Mailing List.

Who took part?

We decided to try and involve a whole school of approximately 120 children, ranging from Reception to Year Six. As an ex-teacher, I knew there would be logistical issues but my experience meant I could plan for these and manage them.

Tell us about your planning and budget for Takeover Day.

Takeover Day was on our radar from very early in the year. We approached the school in May for general agreement and to block out some dates, then firmed up our plans after October half term. Once we knew they were keen to take part, I drew up a very rough outline of what would happen. We communicated with the school via email and phone, so no in person meetings were necessary.

I had one planning meeting with our curator, who was already aware of the programme, where I went through the plans to make sure they were okay with everything.

The costs were very minimal – just some colour printing/ photocopying. In terms of staff time, it probably took up two and a half days in total, including the days that the children visited the museum.

What did they do on the day?

We invited the Year Six class to visit us the week before Takeover Day. I worked with the group on the Five Ways to Wellbeing and asked them to identify objects on display at the museum that linked to four of these areas: Sport/Exercise, Music, Personal Care and Play/Outdoor. While they were browsing the collection, they were given printed sheets and clipboards to note down any observations they had about each object. These included:

“This was a very busy day at the museum! The children were wonderful; sharing exhibits, stories and ideas about mindfulness with their friends. We can’t wait to launch the new Wellbeing Trail and give everyone in the town the chance to share the brilliant resource that has been created.”

  • “I like the drum because it’s colourful and colourful things make me happy.”
  • “I like the bike because cycling makes me energised.”
  • “I feel calm outside in the garden.”

I then went through all their chosen objects, quotes and observations. I created a tri-fold leaflet for a Wellbeing Trail based on the objects they’d chosen. I also made postcard sized signs to place around the museum with a quote from each child.

The following week on Takeover Day, Year Six returned with the rest of the school. Each Year Six child was given two younger children to take round the trail. I gave them the leaflets I had made and they used these to guide their friends around the museum. Volunteers had been recruited to manage the 120 children who were all given the freedom of the museum. They also helped support me in guiding the conversations towards Wellbeing and encouraging children to think about what they could do to improve their own wellbeing.

We had a brief introduction at the start and plenary session at the end to set out our objectives for the session.

What happened next?

The new collaborative trail is now being spruced up with a bit of graphic design input and once ready will be launched as an activity that any visitors can access when they visit the museum. We gave a voice to children who are often not seen / heard in our setting. Hopefully we have made something of value that will be accessed by lots of visitors and will prove to be a support to their wellbeing.

We would love to work with the school again. We are regular visitors to their setting and provide lots of learning opportunities for them – I used to work there and love returning!

Any learnings or top tips to share?

  • Working with a whole school is difficult! It worked for us because we had a clear objective and a plan for how it would work.
  • Having the stickers was a small but lovely part of the day and made all children feel part of a larger whole.
  • Working across age ranges was good because older children supported younger ones – it may be worth thinking about asking secondary school children to work with primary pupils.

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