STO focuses on some of the History activities and workshops available to students in Bristol, from unlocking the secrets of Tudor portraits to discovering dinosaur remains.
Where: The Red Lodge Museum
Area of historical study: The Tudor period
Key Stage: 2
The Red Lodge Museum has created a new Tudor Portraits Workshop. In this interactive session, children will learn about the secret messages hidden in Tudor portraits and what everyday life was like in Tudor Bristol.
This workshop also relates to Art; the pupils will be challenged to complete some preliminary sketches of Dame Joan Young (played by actress Kim Hicks) who will pose especially for them.
The new workshop will be available for general bookings from September.
Where: Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Area of historical study: The Prehistoric period
Key Stage: 1 and 2
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery has teamed up with expert palaeontologists from the University of Bristol to deliver Dinosaur Takeover! – a series of interactive days focussing on the study of dinosaurs.
Taking place from 7th to 11th November, children will get to handle rocks and fossils and get up close to real dinosaur remains.
They’ll also get to see The Bristol Dinosaur (the remains of a Thecodontosaurus found in Bristol), take part in a dino-dig, and learn about dinosaur food chains.
Where: M Shed
Area of historical study: 18th century slave trade
Key Stage: 3 and 4
Pupils can investigate Bristol’s role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the impact this had on the city during Transatlantic Slave Trade workshops at M Shed.
Using objects and historic documents, this one hour session will focus on how the slave trade divided opinion in the city during the 18th century.
The class can also explore the M Shed galleries and discover the long-lasting impact of trade on Bristol.
Where: Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Area of historical study: Anglo-Saxons
Key Stage: 2
The dramatic history of the Anglo-Saxons will come alive for school children during a facilitated visit to Warrior Treasures: Saxon Gold from the Staffordshire Hoard. The national touring exhibition arrives at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in October.
In addition to exploring the exhibition, pupils can attend a workshop, during which they will be able to see real objects made by Anglo-Saxon craftsmen and handle replica artefacts.
Children will also take part in themed activities and listen to a tale of warrior battles while sat around a campfire.
Where: The Georgian House Museum
Area of historical study: 18th century Britain
Key Stage: 1 and 2
Available until December is At Home with the Pinney Family; a workshop that explores what life was like upstairs and downstairs in the family home of John Pinney, a wealthy Bristol plantation owner and sugar merchant.
Pupils will join the household of the Pinney family at their Georgian townhouse and explore how life has changed over time.
The class will dress in replica costume to represent people of the period, investigate 18th century family life using themed activity boxes, and role-play life ‘below stairs’ with a costumed interpreter.
The workshop includes a newly developed self-guided tour of the house where pupils will smell, see and touch ‘upstairs’ life in a Georgian house.
