Venues receive award for work with schools

(Image: A member of the learning team at Arbeia Roman Fort with some young visitors)

Seven of the North East’s museums and galleries have been recognised with an award for the quality of the activities and sessions they offer to schools.

The Great North Museum, Discovery Museum and the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle, the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead, South Shields Museum, and Arbeia Roman Fort in South Tyneside and Segedunum Roman Fort in North Tyneside, have all been given Sandford Awards. These are awarded to museums and heritage sites offering high quality educational programmes.

In 2014-15 the venues together were visited by more than 146,000 children and young people taking part in educational activities.

Ged Bell, Chair of the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Committee, said: “These wonderful museums and galleries provide a valuable learning resource and the quality of the learning programmes is of the highest importance. I’m proud to see that the hard work and enthusiasm of the learning staff has been recognised with these awards.”

One of the venues recognised was the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead, where schools can take part in workshops based around the famous Blaydon Races painting.

A spokesperson for the Sandford Award said: “The Shipley Art Gallery deservedly receives its first Sandford Award. Visitors who are fortunate enough to attend a workshop, under the inspiring guidance of a member of the Education staff, will find themselves immersed in learning about how and why artists and craftsmen produced paintings and crafts in response to many stimulants. A feature of this gallery is the built-in opportunity to handle and to examine in detail an array of original artefacts whilst having the processes followed by their makers explained and discussed. It is extremely likely that even the casual visitor will wish to linger in order to enjoy and appreciate all that is so evidently greatly worthwhile.”

Councillor Gary Haley, Gateshead Council Cabinet Member for Culture said: “We’re delighted that the Shipley Art Gallery has been given a Sandford Award for the first time.

“We know how important it is to motivate children and young people from an early age so we’re very proud of the educational programmes that are run at the gallery. Being introduced to art and the process of creating art when young can only go on to inspire our next generation.”

At the Great North Museum in Newcastle, one of the sessions available for schools teaches children all about Egyptian mummification while at Discovery Museum pupils can learn about some of the world-changing inventions which have come from Tyneside, including the electric lightbulb.

At the Laing Art Gallery, school groups are helped to create their own artwork, having learnt about some of the work on show by artists including Henry Moore and John Martin.

The Sandford Award is an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums, archives and collections across the British Isles.