We are delighted to offer a range of school workshops, virtual tours, learning and activity resources that are suitable for all age-groups. The resources cover a range of curriculum topics for use in classrooms, at homes, young people spaces and beyond.
Some of our resources are available online and can be downloaded while several other resources such as ‘Museum in a Box’ can be requested and are available for loans.
For more information on the Museum’s learning programme, workshops and sessions, please fill theLearning Enquiry Form or contact the Public Engagement & Learning Team on 0191 561 8608. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 3 working days.
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens has extraordinary collections of decorative and fine art for you to explore. See works by artist L.S. Lowry in the Art Gallery, inspired by his regular visits to Sunderland in the 1960s, alongside paintings, sculptures and prints from the 18th Century to the present day. Look for world famous pink lustreware in the Sunderland Pottery Gallery and examples of cut, pressed and art glass in the Glorious Glass Gallery including the Londonderry Glass Service, made in the 1920s for the Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry, who were rich landowners from County Durham.
Work by a variety of artists can be seen in the Special Exhibitions Gallery which hosts national touring and partner exhibitions. Recent exhibitions have included Paint the Town in Sound and Received Wisdom from the Arts Council Collection and Leonardo: A Life in Drawing from the Royal Collection Trust. Book an art workshop to try different art techniques inspired by the collections.
Are you studying castles as a local history topic in your school? These resources from the Castles: Paintings from the National Gallery exhibition can help you find out more about castles and get creative with different art and craft projects. Try a virtual tour of the exhibition, explore local castle paintings, drawings and etchings and see videos made by artists to inspire you.
You could even use the pack to support pupils to gain an Arts Award. To find out more contact Jennie or Marie in the Museum Learning & Engagement Team on [email protected].
About the exhibition
Castles: Paintings from the National Gallery, London, was exhibited here at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens from September – November 2020. The exhibition centred around the National Gallery’s tour of Bernardo Bellotto’s The Fortress of Königstein from the North, one of the most original and impressive examples of 18th-century landscape painting.
Bellotto’s masterpiece was displayed alongside five other European Old Master paintings from the National Gallery’s collection featuring castles (both real and imagined).
The display was also enhanced by watercolours, drawings, prints and oils featuring castles in Sunderland Museum’s own collection including L S Lowry’s drawing, Bamburgh Castle and other North East castles such as Brancepeth, Warkworth, Lambton, Barnard, Durham and Prudhoe castles.
The exhibition has now closed but you can still take a virtual tour of the exhibition here:
Get creative with our Castles activity pack!
Download our Castles activity pack full of fun activites and ideas to help you explore the theme of castles and get creative. The pack was inspired by the exhibition Castles: Paintings from the National Gallery, London which was recently on display here at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
The long and fascinating history of Sunderland is explored in the different galleries and collections at the museum. Tales of national heroes, record-breaking ships, amazing inventors and everyday lives can all be explored here. Travel back through time from the industrial boom years to the Anglo Saxon and pre-history periods of Sunderland’s history. If you are doing a local study topic we can often adapt the workshops to your local area so please ask.
Museum in a Box is Sunderland Museum’s loans box service, providing a wide variety of real and replica objects to support learning in the classroom. Look an eider duck in the eye, hold a fossil in your hand and delve into the treasures from Sunderland’s past.
The Winter Gardens contains over 1000 plants of 200 different plant species representing different climatic zones across the world including the Mediterranean and Southern Hemisphere. Discover how plants are adapted to grow and thrive in different habitats. Some of the Museum’s first ever collections were of natural science specimens, including animals, birds, rocks and fossils. Examples can be seen in the Lost Worlds and Worlds Alive galleries today. The breadth of collections also invites exploration of ways we can live more sustainably on the planet. Themes include energy use, transport, biodiversity, recycling and climate change.
Why not explore the topic of tropical rainforests in the surroundings of our wonderful Winter Gardens? Our hands-on Rainforest Explorers workshops provide rich and sensory learning experiences for your pupils. Discover rainforest plants used for food, fibre and medicine including bananas, bamboo and ginger and learn why deforestation threatens these precious habitats.
Please see below all of our downloadable Learning Resources for Schools and Learning Groups. Worksheets for booked facilitated sessions e.g. Rainforest Explorers will be provided but you will need to print and bring your own for teacher-led visits.
To link with Special Exhibitions and events such as British Science Week, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens often have special workshops which are only available for a limited time. Check this section or join our mailing list to keep up to date with new exhibitions and workshops.
British Science Week: Joseph Swan and the Wonder of Electricity Wednesday 11 March – Friday 13 March 2020
In-school assemblies and workshops for Sunderland Schools £205 per day (subsidised rate) Experts from Green Shift Educational Services will visit your school to work with Year 4 and Year 6 pupils to explore electricity and circuits with a focus on Sunderland inventor Joseph Swan. Museum staff will also give a 30 minute assembly on Sunderland Inventors during the day.
To book a day for your school please contact Marie Harrison on 0191 5618608 or e-mail [email protected]
Our wide range of collections including textiles, natural sciences, local history, art and design means that we can adapt existing sessions or develop new sessions to meet your needs. If you don’t see what you are looking for on the list above please get in touch and we may be able to help you.
