School Sessions
The Cheshire
Military Museum
offer school
sessions during the academic year. Call 01244 327617 to speak
to the Museum Officer, or email museum@chester.ac.uk
for more details. Maximum 35 children per visit.
Florence Nightingale
A half day session developed for Key Stage 1.
Pupils will explore the Victorian galleries and learn about the work of
Florence Nightingale in the Crimean war as well as discovering health and
hygiene in Victorian military camps. A fun and informative session focussed on
role play and object handling.
"Adventurous Victorians"
A session focusing on William Birkby, who joined
the Cheshire Regiment aged ten in 1863 when the Regiment was based in India.
The children will learn about significant people (e.g. Queen Victoria), events
(e.g. the battle of Meeanee) and places (e.g. the British Empire); about change
and continuity in their own area, in Britain and the rest of world; they will
also investigate the past through diary extracts, maps, paintings, photos, army
documents drawn from the museum collection and its archive. By looking at
William Birkby's life, they will recognise that their own lives are different
from those in the past. Again the emphasis will be on learning through handling
real artefacts from the museum's collections.
Life on the Home Front
A half day session based upon the study of the Home
Front during World War II. The museum has a wide selection of artefacts and
archive material, including uniforms, photographs, soldier's letters and
diaries that can be utilised by schools. Our ‘ARP warden' shows children how their
homes would have been protected against a Second World War air raid: pupils
will tape up windows, close blackout curtains, climb under a Morrison shelter
and try their hand at a stirrup pump. They will also learn about life as a Land
Girl and find out what it was like to be evacuated. These fun, interactive tasks
allow children to handle a range of artefacts including a stirrup pump, an ARP
rattle and gas masks, as well as explore the galleries.
The Great War
A session on the Great War tailored to Key Stage 3
or 4 where pupils complete a workbook in our extensive gallery complete with
trench and machine gun. They will then examine first hand accounts of the
conflict and learn what different sources can tell us about the Great War and
the soldiers who fought in it.
