You can teach so much more than history in a museum!
Please note that due to planned conservation building works we aren't taking bookings at Oak House for visits before May half term 2024
Sandwell Museum Service provides a wide range of experience days and creative learning activities for schools across the curriculum and topic areas; we are also happy to work with you to help create your perfect day. Scroll down the page to find out more information and then you can email museum_learning@sandwell.gov.uk if you would like to know more or make a booking.
Check out our sessions below and email us at museum_learning@sandwell.gov.uk if you would like more information or to make a booking.
Find out about what sessions we offer
Keep checking this site as we are developing new activities all the time and have some exciting new sessions being planned! You can also contact us if you have a project or bespoke visit in mind, we have undertaken all sorts of activities across the curriculum.
Please note - School visits and outreach sessions are available from February to December. They are not available in January. Please give us at least 4 weeks notice before you would like your session. We are a small team and need to ensure staffing is available etc.
Key stage one activities and sessions
Follow the link and find out about the sessions we offer for pupils at key stage 1 - From old toys, houses and homes, time travelling, fairytales, The Gunpowder Plot, the Great Fire of London, William Morris and one off exhibitions and activities. We also off a variety of loan boxes.
Key stage two activities and sessions
Follow the link and discover what sessions and activities are available for students at key stage 2 - From Tudor and Victorian Living History, local history projects, Junior ghost hunting, ghosts and gothic literacy sessions, Home Front in World War II and Egyptians. We also have a variety of loan boxes for use in the classroom.
Outreach Sessions for KS2
We offer our "Mummy's Head" Egyptians outreach session to schools - click the link to our KS2 sessions to find out more.
Key stage three and above
At KS3 and above we are happy to tailor make a session to fulfil your needs across the curriculum. We have undertaken projects around gothic horror stories, citizenship, The Tudors, local history, heritage buildings, art, film making etc. Call or e-mail us to see what is possible.
Ghosts and Gothic
Join us for a day exploring all things creepy! - Discover Haden Hill House our Victorian gentleman's residence, explore some of the items in our collection and enjoy our staff telling you some terrible tales. The day is set up to create inspiration for creative writing of gothic or ghostly tales back at school but this process will begin at the museum using our building and objects. Email museum_learning@sandwell.gov.uk
Booking your school visit
- Ensure you know what session you are looking at doing or if you are looking at a mash up of sessions or something bespoke and how many children you are looking at bringing (currently no more than one class)
- Please have some possible dates in mind which you would like to visit - Please be aware that we may already be booked for your first choice of days so it is useful to have a few options available. Sessions can be booked at Oak House on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Haden Hill House Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Wednesbury Museum, Wednesdays and Bromwich Hall any day but Tuesdays.
- Please email museum_learning.sandwell.gov.uk with your request or for further information (please check the links below with further details about our sessions)
- We will book in a provisional booking and send a booking form and guidance notes - please ensure the guidance notes get to the teacher in charge of the visit
- Please return this as soon as possible so secure your booking and so we can ensure everything is in place
- As we are working under covid measures we will discuss needs and expectations with each visiting group
Work experience
Sandwell Museums offers work experience and placements. We would expect our work experience students to be able to work at all our main sites as required. If you're interested in Sandwell Museums as a possible work experience you should register your interest.
Costs may vary if we put together a session for you, or if we create a session for you from relevant parts of other sessions. We can discuss this with you when we organise your visit.
Why bring your class to a museum?
- Museums offer a unique learning environment where children can learn in a completely different way to how they would learn in the classroom.
- Museums can inspire and motivate.
- Museums can stimulate all the senses, as well as nurture creativity.
- Activity sessions in museums can provide an holistic approach to learning, working across the curriculum at the same time, using topics from history and art, to speaking and listening, creativity, English and citizenship. They can cover whole topics in a few hours.
- Museum work can also be the basis of projects and follow up work back at school, including
Information Communications Technology (ICT) and design and technology. - Children who often find traditional classroom based activities difficult respond well to the hands on and visual nature of museum visits.
- Museums offer children a taste of the past which they can see, smell, touch and hear.
Why visit Sandwell museums?
Sandwell museums offer a wide range of activities across our sites as well as loan boxes covering a wide range of topics.
Our sessions have been carefully tailored to meet the needs of the national curriculum for different key stages and we aim to continuously develop them by listening to teachers and children to meet changing needs. We are also very happy to work with teachers on specific one-off projects at any of our sites.
Why not speak to us about using our collection?
Why not email or call us about using our collections in your learning. 'Things' make up our world so are an excellent learning tool, inspiring curiosity and encouraging questioning and critical thinking skills.
Learn more about our collection
We are not just here for KS1 and KS2
Our buildings, collections and staff are also a brilliant resource for KS3 and 4 students. We have a pack for teachers around using Oak House for Geography and local history and we are happy to work with you to put together your perfect project.