School Workshops & Resources

We offer a range of resources for schools digitally, including online workshops and virtual tours.

For more information or to take part in our digital offer please contact Marie Harrison, Public Engagement & Learning Officer [email protected]

Click here to access our digital offer.

We can offer a range of workshops digitally.  These include:

• Anglo Saxon Bede Bags
• Coal, Glass and Ships
• Toys: Past and Present
• River Wear Story
• Beside the Seaside
• Victoria Hall Disaster
• Rainforest Explorers
• Bones and Skeletons
• Animal Quest

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 18^th 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.

Click here for all our available Art Workshops

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.

We hope you enjoy creating, making and exploring! Download the pack here: Get creative with Castles pack

Activity: Create your very own coat of arms with Poppy Chancellor

Inspired by the Castles exhibition, why not have a go at creating your own coat of arms! Watch the video below from Poppy to find out how:

 

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.

Click here for all our available History Workshops

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.

Click here for all our available Museum in a Box services

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.

Click here for all our available Natural World Workshops

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.

Click here for all our available Rainforest Explorers Workshops

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.

 

Ladybird Trail Shapes and Patterns Scavenger Hunt – Winter Gardens – EYFS & KS1 Ladybird Trail Questions for Group Leaders – Winter Gardens – EYFS & KS1 Rainforest Explorers Trail – Winter Gardens – KS1 Rainforest Animals Hunt – Worlds Alive Gallery – KS1 Mowbray Park Sculptures Colouring Sheet – KS1Coal Scavenger Hunt – General Museum KS1 & 2 Can You Find Trail – General Museum – KS1 & 2 Animal Scavenger Hunt – General Museum KS1 & 2 Mowbray Park Sculptures – Teacher’s Information – KS1 & 2Launched on Wearside Quizsheet – KS2 Coal Gallery Quizsheet – KS2 Anglo Saxon Trail – General Museum – KS2 Rainforest Explorers Trail – Winter Gardens – KS2 Victorians Trail – General Museum – KS2 Rainforest Animals Quizsheet – Worlds Alive Gallery – KS2 Mowbray Park Sculpture Trail – KS2 Museum in a Box list – 2018

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
£200 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.