Based in our Victorian Courthouse, our workshops are designed to inspire pupils and bring history to life!
Workshops last 2 hours and include three hands-on, immersive activities. Pupils can also explore the Museum and Art Gallery’s exhibitions. Sessions are delivered to one class at a time and timings work around your school day.
Toys Through Time
What did children play with in the past? In this session a range of toys from old to new are used to examine how materials and ideas have changed when making toys. Children will discuss their own toys and look for similarities and differences between these toys and toys from the past. They will also look at chronology and how toys and playtime have changed over time.
The Victorian School Room
Sit up straight! Don't fidget! Stand in that corner! Your class will meet the School Master who will teach them all about life in a Victorian school room in an immersive and interactive way. Pupils will be able to compare their experience of school today with that of Victorian children.
WW2 Evacuees
What was it like to leave your home and live with strangers in a different part of the country? This workshop uses the experience of real evacuees who found Petersfield their home for the duration of the Second World War and those who took them in. Combining role play, object handling and an air raid drill, your pupils will discover and explore the story of evacuation, from the logistics and reasoning to the personal experience of those who were affected.
Stone Age to Iron Age
How do we know what really happened thousands of years ago? This session will transform your pupils into archaeologists, giving them the opportunity to discover what life might have been like for those who lived in the past. During this session, pupils will learn how technology and society changed over time through the handling of real and replica artefacts from the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
We also offer the following off-site workshops:
The Archaeology of Petersfield Heath
Be transported back to the prehistoric landscape of Petersfield Heath. Your pupils will discover how humans have been using and living on Petersfield Heath since the Stone Age and get the opportunity to handle archaeological objects dating back almost 10,000 years. They will also learn about how we learn about prehistory through the process of archaeology and the significance of the hidden history under their feet!
Petersfield Through Time
Travel through 2,000 years of history on this walking tour of Petersfield Town Centre. Pupils will explore how the town has changed over time, both in living memory and further back. The time-travelling tour will include the use of photographs to demonstrate the changes that are being highlighted.