School Workshops

We offer sessions in schools exploring the stories of Sussex throughout history. Students will find out what real life was like for people living in their local area and get hands on with real objects made and used by people in the past.

For these discussion based sessions we charge £250 for a whole day in school or £150 for half a day which usually fits 2 or 3 class sessions.

Fossils and Evolution

Find out what prehistoric animals and plants lived in Sussex through their fossils formed millions of years ago. We'll explore how fossils are formed and how they can help us learn about how the environment has changed. We will then look at examples of fossils to track evolution and using that knowledge, have a go at working out the common ancestor of Kangaroos and Koalas.

sTONE aGE

In this session we'll work out how long ago the Stone Age was and explore what people were doing in Stone Age Sussex. Students will then discover the different animals living alongside humans in Sussex and find out more about the discoveries and inventions made by Prehistoric people in this area followed by time having a closer look at Stone Age tools made by people in East Sussex

bRONZE aGE

We'll find out what Bronze Age Sussex looked like, listen to some of the sounds people would have heard in prehistory and explore what daily life was like 3000 years ago through handling a mixture of real and replica objects discovered at a nationally significant Bronze Age site in Eastbourne.

rOMANS

We'll explore daily life and the homes people lived in during the Roman period in Sussex, unpick the mystery of Eastbourne's two villas and get hands on with some Roman archaeological finds from East Sussex. If time allows, we'll also have a go at Roman writing and maths!

sAXONS

This session is based around the archaeology uncovered in a Saxon cemetery in Eastbourne to explore the lives of the people who lived and were then buried in the town. We'll find out more about daily life and some of the local place names that come from the Saxon period. Students will be able to get a closer look at some of the objects and work out what they might tell us about the people who owned them.

vICTORIANS

We'll explore the changes that have happened in Sussex since the Victorian period, find out more about Victorian inventions, medicine, food and some of the unusual names of people. Students will then have a closer look at real Victorian objects and local newspapers owned by people in Sussex

fIRST wORLd War

This session starts with an overview of training for a soldier in the First World War including having a go at sending messages using semaphore followed by uncovering some of the stories from Summerdown Camp, a pioneering convalescent camp for wounded soldiers in Eastbourne.

Second wORLd War

We'll find out what happened in Eastbourne during the Second World War, find out about some of the children evacuated to the countryside, have a closer look at bomb damage in the town and discover the defences put in place by the Home Guard through their 'Top Secret' map. Students will then be able to handle objects owned by people in Sussex in the Second World War

Loan Boxes

We offer a range of inspirational Loans Boxes for schools and groups to borrow allowing pupils to get up close to real and replica artefacts.

The boxes contain information sheets, a selection of suggested learning activities (including printable worksheets/other materials) relevant to the period of history/objects in the loan box and, where possible, links to online 3d versions of relevant objects so they can be explored digitally. The boxes also include a short film accessed online to explore the relevant bit of history.

The loan period will run for 1 week at a time (multiple weeks can be booked). A charge of £50 will apply for the loan box, learning activities and short film.