Primary School Museum Learning Sessions

Over the Michaelmas term, the College Collections have been visited by 1379 state school pupils through the Primary School Formal Learning Programme and ECCE programme (sessions designed and run by Eton Year 12 students).

With three permanent museums as well as a temporary exhibition space, the Collections offers a wide range of opportunities for museum learning at all primary school levels. 

Activities  

English  
Botany Bay Creative Writing (KS 2):  
Science 
Minibeasts (KS 1) 
Dinosaurs and Fossils (KS 1&2) 
Animals (KS 1&2) 
Climate Change (KS 2) 
History 
Preparing for Eternity – Investigating the Ancient Egyptians (KS 1&2) 
Ancient Greeks (KS 1&2) 
Tudors (KS 1&2) 
Toys (EYFS):  
Tailcoats, Top Hats and Trials – Victorian Children at Eton (KS 1&2) 
Remembering the Fallen (KS 1&2) 
WWII Home Front (KS 2) 

ECCE College Collections Sessions 

As part of the Eton College Community Engagement Programme (ECCE), three groups of lower 6th form students work in each of the three museums to create and deliver museum learning sessions to local primary schools. The Natural History Museum group, working with the Museum Curator, covers a range of subjects. This past year the group based in the Museum of Eton Life chose to cover the WWII home front, while the students in the Museum of Antiquities looked at the Ancient Egyptians. 

Activities  

Eton students provided an hour-long museum education session that combined discussion with various activities to consolidate the pupils’ learning. 

Impact

The Primary Schools Collections Learning Programme provides a valuable free resource for schools. The varied collections allow schools to access free learning sessions for multiple curriculum strands, close to home. The option to have a live online session improves accessibility to those schools that find it difficult to travel in, whether it be for logistical, financial or time reasons. The education spaces are not open to the public during sessions and thus allow students the chance to get up close to objects while giving teachers security. Many students visit us as their first school trip, or event their first museum trip ever. This increases their confidence in these spaces as well as their cultural capital.  

ECCE sessions have a marked impact upon both the visiting pupils and Eton students. The pupils are not only learning information, but because they are learning from students just a bit older than themselves, it demonstrates what they are capable of in the future. The Eton students learn about the subject, but they have a crash course in presenting to and interacting with large groups of children – who can be a very challenging audience.