Schools Learning Programme

WorkshopSiteKey Stages

Christmas Crafts at Thwaite Mills Watermill
Did you know Henry VIII was the first person to have turkey for Christmas dinner? What else do we associate with Christmas? Investigate Christmas traditions and get creative at Thwaite Mills!
Thwaite Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Waterforce!
What happens when fossil fuels run out? Look at a sustainable way to generate power at Thwaite Mills Watermill.
Thwaite Mills
KS2
Select
Wartime at Thwaite Mills Watermill
Bomb blasts and no bananas! What was life like during the Second World War at Thwaite Mills?
Thwaite Mills
KS2
Select
Guided tours of Thwaite Mills for all key stages
Guides are available to take pre-booked groups around the working waterpowered mill. We can focus the tour to your topics - just ask!
Thwaite Mills
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4
Select
An Island Home
Did you know Thwaite Mills is on an island between the River Aire and the canal? Investigate living and working on an island at Thwaite Mills.
Thwaite Mills
KS1
Select
Marvellous Materials Trail
Follow Cathy the Curator on this printed trail for KS2 pupils! This self-led resource complements the materials workshop at the museum but can be used on its own.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Maths at the Mill Trail
Explore numeracy in different galleries of Armley Mills with this self-led trail.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
The Mill Children
Through an interactive, object based session, students will be able to experience what it might have been like to live, dress and work as a Victorian child.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Customer Services in a Museum Setting
Armley Mills is a business within the tourism sector. Visit the Museum and find out how it meets different customer's needs.
Armley Mills
KS4
Select
Scribes and Skivvies
Explore the daily lives of monks and look at the differences in life between Tudor rich and poor - all from where you were born and educated.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS2
Select
Getting to Know You
What kind of people had their portraits painted? Pupils will compare and contrast different Gasgoigne family portraits by looking at costume, hobbies and traditions, and create their own portrait.
Lotherton Hall
KS1
Select
Me, Myself and I
Explore personalities, poses, portraits while discovering how colour and composition provide clues about the artist and the sitter.
Temple Newsam
KS1
Select
Dress to Impress
Become a Tudor for the day! Discover life in Tudor times through games, storytelling and role play.
Temple Newsam
KS2
Select
Tudor Time Travellers
How do we know how the Tudors lived? Become a Tudor Historian and explore real and replica objects to understand more about Tudor life!
Temple Newsam
KS2
Select
Art and Design: History of Style
Put style in context! Explore and draw historic design styles including Baroque, the Rococo, Neo-Classical and Neo Gothic through the interiors of Temple Newsam.
Temple Newsam
KS3, KS4
Select
Victorian Daily Life
Do you know what will remove an ink stain? Lemon juice? Urine? Onion juice? You and your pupils can find out about Victorian wash day during the Victorian Daily Life workshop at Thwaite Mills!
Thwaite Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Marvellous Materials
Explore & experiment with different materials in the Museum. Children will using their senses snd develop vocubulary by investigating the properties of wool and other materials.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
The Great Pulley Challenge
Find out more about Pushes & Pulls, Friction & Forces in this interactive, hands-on workshop.
Armley Mills
KS2, KS3
Select
The Victorian Schoolroom
The Schoolroom brings history to life at the Armley Mill Industrial Museum by allowing classes to experience Victorian or 1940’s lessons in role.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Skulls, Skeletons and Sustenance
The leg bone’s connected to... Students get up close and personal with animal skulls and skeletons from our natural history collection
Discovery Centre
KS1, KS2
Select
Abbey House Murder Mystery
There has been a murder at Abbey House Museum! This engaging cross curricular workshop encourages pupils to think analytically and build arguments using evidence.
Abbey House Museum
KS2
Select
Teaching Time: putting the past in context
Use our interactive timeline to help your pupils understand the order of twelve significant eras in history.
City Museum
KS2
Select
A House Fit for a King
Become a historical detective! Explore differences and similarities between homes old and new.
Temple Newsam
KS1
Select
Investigating Pattern
Gather evidence from Temple Newsam’s historic wallpapers, textiles, furniture and architecture, and be inspired by to make your own print.
Temple Newsam
KS2
Select
Deck the Halls
Join in the Ingram family’s holiday preparations, including making decorations for the tree, planning a Christmas dinner and learning a Victorian dance.
Temple Newsam
KS2
Select
Revival: a textile project opportunity
Got the next Vivienne Westwood or Wayne Hemmingway in the class? Want to set them a real-life challenge to solve? Your school could participate in this annual competition where the winning student's design is displayed for the year at Lotherton Hall.
Lotherton Hall
KS4, KS5
Select
Investigate and Experiment
Explore Science in our after school Science Club! All activities relate to our fantastic and varied collections.
Armley Mills
KS2, KS3
Select
Romans in Residence!
Investigate life in Roman Britain beyond swords and soldiers! How do we know how they lived? What did they do for fun? What did they eat?
Discovery Centre
KS2
Select
A Victorian Christmas at the Mill
Celebrate Christmas 'Victorian Style'! Pupils get the chance to see how both the rich and poor might have spent Christmas.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Toys and Games
A chance to handle old and new toys from the museum’s nationally important collection and to discover how children played in the past.
Abbey House Museum
KS1
Select
Marvellous Myths and Lively Legends
Is a unicorn real? What has an eleplant skull got to do with anything? Get hands on with real museum artefacts from around the world to discover some less-well known myths, legends and fables from around the world.
Discovery Centre
KS2
Select
Houses and Homes
A fantastic opportunity to investigate and handle original household objects from the past two centuries!
Abbey House Museum
KS1
Select
Shops and Shopping
Find out what it was like to go shopping in the past and compare shops in Victorian Leeds with those today.
Abbey House Museum
KS1, KS2
Select
Teacher INSET training at Leeds Art Gallery
Come to a free teacher familiarisation session on the second Wednesday of each month 4-6pm to discuss your visit from the needs of your group to health and safety.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS3, KS4, Early Years, KS1, KS2, KS5
Select
Young Entrepreneurs
Want to be multi-millionaire by this time next year? Apply your decision making and problem solving skills to form a textile business and learn from the mistake of the past!
Armley Mills
KS2
Select
No Place Like Home
Explore the inside and outside of the wealthy Gascoigne family home. Is it differnt to yours? Look at the different types of rooms, objects and furniture and handle historic household objects.
Lotherton Hall
KS1
Select
Playtime!
A variety of activities that can be themed for your nursery or reception group. Can include the dressing up box, drawing activities and storytelling.
Lotherton Hall
Early Years, KS1
Select
Ancient Egypt: A Day in the Life
Forget pharaohs and pyramids – see how the common man lived! Use real artefacts and archaeological discoveries to find out about daily life in Ancient Egypt.
Discovery Centre
KS2
Select
Rocks and Fossils
Have a go at being a geologist! Pupils use enquiry based learning to discover about the Rock Cycle using museum specimens,and investigate the evidence fossils give us about life on earth.
Discovery Centre
KS2, KS3
Select
Meet the Victorians
A chance to meet a Victorian visitor from the past!
Abbey House Museum
KS1, KS2
Select
Bah Humbug!
Discover how the Victorians invented many of our Christmas traditions and compare how rich and poor Victorians celebrated Christmas.
Abbey House Museum
KS2
Select
Self-guided visits to Abbey House
Plan a visit to Abbey House Museum on one of a number of themes and curriculum topics.
Abbey House Museum
KS1, KS2
Select
Maths at the Monastery
This workshops gives an excellent opportunity to put classroom maths into action. We will use a range of medieval but still relevant techniques to estimate and calculate length area and height.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS2
Select
Rage Against the Machine
Using historical campaigns and museum collections as inspiration pupils are encouraged to explore ways of campaigning today.
Armley Mills
KS3
Select
The Art Team
Who you gonna call...? Call the Art Team! Want your students to work with a real-life artist? Are you working on the Arts Award? We have a team of DBS checked freelance artists waiting to work with you!
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, Early Years, KS5
Select
Variety – The Spice of Life!
See how scientists attempt to make sense of the amazing variety of life. Pupils will discuss similarities and differences between and within species and try our hand at making our own simple keys.
Discovery Centre
KS3, KS2
Select
Tudor Portraits
If they could talk, what would the Tudor portraits say about life at Temple Newsam? Find out in our practical and investigative activity into portraits at Temple Newsam House.
Temple Newsam
KS2
Select
WWII Evacuation Role Play
Take your class back in time to the Second World War. Learn how to use Morse Code, train with a nurse for first aid and draw up a plan for how you will share the Hall with wounded soldiers.
Lotherton Hall
KS2
Select
Going Green
Discover recycling at Thwaite Mills! Find out about what was recycled in the past, how it was done and compare it to now. Look at renewable sources of energy with our wonderful waterwheel.
Thwaite Mills
KS2
Select
Secondary Learning Pack for self-led visits to Armley Mills
Want to support your visit with self-led, curriculum linked activities resources? Then download our Secondary Learning Pack. It's crammed full of student trails, ideas and accompanying teacher's notes.
Armley Mills
KS3, KS4
Select
Going to the Seaside with Souvenir Craft Activity Workshop
Pupils compare seaside holidays in the recent past with those taken a long time ago!
Abbey House Museum
KS1
Select
If Stones could Speak
Using a range of fun practical activities involving puppets, rubbings and dressing up, this workshop will help pupils to understand the different materials used in old buildings and how buildings change over time.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS1
Select
Brother Gilbert's Day
This hands on interactive workshop will help to bring medieval life in Kirkstall to life for your pupils. Working in groups pupils will investigate different aspects of medieval and monastic life.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS2
Select
Sculpture Skills
Investigate three dimensional art to find out what it can be made from and the ideas behind it. Look at different materials then make an imaginative sculpture from card, paper clips, elastic bands and string.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2
Select
Portrait Skills
Explore portraiture as more than just a likeness by investigating selected artworks in the Gallery and then drawing a portrait of a friend and favourite objects in a novel way.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2
Select
Be an Art Detective
Use looking, thinking and note-taking skills to investigate collection or exhibition artworks, sharing ideas in small groups and with the whole class.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2
Select
Ways of Seeing
Structured analysis of Gallery artworks to develop confident observation, critical and cultural understanding and thinking skills. Ideas are captured as visual and written notes or mind maps.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS3, KS4
Select
Secondary Learning Pack for self-led visits
Want to explore Temple Newsam with your group? The Learning Pack provides workshop and curriculum linked resources to help you focus your visit, including experimental drawing
Temple Newsam
KS3, KS4
Select
Power and Politics
This workshop will develop pupils’ interpretation and enquiry skills through exploring aspects of medieval life in the abbey and the power of the Church.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS3, KS4
Select
Primary Learning Pack for self-led visits to Armley Mills
Want to support your visit with curriculum linked activities? Download our Learning Pack full of self led visit information, resources and activity sheets for the museum with pre/post visit activities.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Kings and Queens
Become a King or Queen for the day! Find clues in our mystery bags, make a glittering crown and perform a popular court dance.
Temple Newsam
Early Years, KS1
Select
Bringing The Ancient Egyptians to Life: Death on the Nile
Who were the Ancient Egyptians? What did they believe? Why are we so fascinated by their culture today? Find out more and meet Nesyamun, our Leeds Mummy.
City Museum
KS2
Select
Life in Leeds
Use objects, stories and the galleries to find out what Leeds was like during the Roman, Victorian and Second World War eras.
City Museum
KS2
Select
Amazing Animals!
Use the Museum collection and the Life on Earth gallery to explore animals, habitats and food chains and design a home for an animal.
City Museum
KS1, KS2
Select
Leonora Cohen and the Suffragettes
Votes for Women! Discover more about the suffragette movment by looking in detail at the story and objects of Leonora Cohen, a Leeds suffragette.
City Museum
KS3, KS4
Select
Primary and Secondary Learning Packs for self-led visits to City Museum
Come and explore Leeds and the wider world through leeds City Museum. We can support topics on local history, African culture, the ancient civilisations of the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians.
City Museum
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, Early Years, KS5
Select
Bringing the Romans to Life: Soldiers and Invaders
Find out more about the Romans in Leeds. How we can use objects and other things that were left behind to learn about the Romans?
City Museum
KS2
Select
Sketchbook Studies
Work with Lotherton Halls amazing collections and museum staff as inspiration for developing and producing first hand sketches.
Lotherton Hall
KS3, KS4
Select
Bringing the Ancient Greeks to Life: How do we know about the Ancient Greeks?
Explore the Ancient Greeks! How do we know about their lives? Use objects and images as evidence sources to learn about Ancient Greece.
City Museum
KS2
Select
Introductory talks for secondary schools to Leeds Art Gallery
Want to explore the Gallery under your own steam, but need an initial steer? Then use our themed 45 minute introduction to the Gallery and the artworks as part of a self-led visit.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS3, KS4, KS5
Select
Tudor Time Capsule
Support your visit with this self-led resource. Investigate what life was like in a Tudor house by handling objects and archive documents to create a Tudor time capsule.
Temple Newsam
KS1, KS2
Select
Discovery Tours
Become an explorer! Travel around this grand Tudor-Jacobean mansion house with an expert guide who will bring to the people and the history of the house to life.
Temple Newsam
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4
Select
Factory Reform Challenge
Change! Love it or hate it - it happens. Use Armley Mills as the stimulus for students to explore 19th century factory reform and how it impacts on today.
Armley Mills
KS2, KS3
Select
Colour Skills
What is colour? What does it mean to you? Explore Gallery artworks for colours and think baout how different colours mean differnt things to different people across cultures.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2
Select
Mellow Monks
Are your Yr 6 pupils stressed about their SAT’s? Or do you have a class that just can’t focus? Help them keep calm with yoga in the peaceful setting of Kirkstall Abbey.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS2
Select
Introductory talks for primary schools to Leeds Art Gallery
Running a self-led visit, but want a focus for your students? Then use our themed 45 minute introduction to the Gallery and the artworks to spark ideas and thinking.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2
Select
Objects of Inspiration
Do you have an idea of how the million objects in our store can inspire your students?
Discovery Centre
KS3, KS4, KS5, Early Years, KS1, KS2
Select
Outreach opportunities - we can bring objects to you!
We can lead any of the sessions from the Discovery Centre in your school! Our team will bring treasures for the students to explore and lead a session at school.
Discovery Centre
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5, As agreed
Select
Experimental Drawing Skills
Work in groups to experiment with different drawing materials and produce large-scale layered paper works based on observation and imaginative drawing.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS3, KS4
Select
From Fleece to Fashion
How are your clothes made? Find out about the textile process from raw fleece to finished garment in what was once the biggest woollen mill in the world.
Armley Mills
KS1, KS2
Select
Brother Gilbert and the Mice story sack
Brother Gilbert is not a very good monk! But he tries really hard! Follow his story around the abbey with puppets, objects and actions.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS1, Early Years
Select
Baubles - A Festive Workshop
Inspired by the originality of the Northern Art Prize artists, half-day workshops to make unusual contemporary art decorations from an eclectic materials.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS1, KS2
Select
Contemporary Art Skills
Explore contemporary art and consider the properties of ready-made objects and then arrange them in new and interesting ways to communicate an important idea.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS3, KS4
Select
Photo-Work Skills
Bring in digital photographs, stills from video work or use images from our large stock of magazines and newspapers to explore and make lens-based media artworks.
Leeds Art Gallery
KS3, KS4
Select
Guided tours for schools
Give pupils the opportunity to get inside knowledge of the Abbey.
Kirkstall Abbey
KS1, KS2, KS3
Select
Christmas Toys and Games
What toys did children get in their stockings in the past? What did it mean if you got coal in your stocking? Find out in this creative workshop.
Abbey House Museum
KS1
Select
Father Christmas for nursery schools
Meet Father Christmas and do a Christmas craft activity in our seasonally decorated Victorian Streets.
Abbey House Museum
Early Years
Select
Abbey House Bear Hunt
We are putting on our pith helmets to hunt for Albert the Abbey House Bear through the Victorian Streets. Will we find him?
Abbey House Museum
Early Years, KS1
Select
Jelly and Gingerbread
Wobble like a jelly and tip like a tea pot to explore our Victorian Streets using nursery rhymes inspired by our new Taste exhibition.
Abbey House Museum
Early Years, KS1
Select
Professor Pickle and the Mysterious Materials
Professor Pickle needs to identify all of the different materials in the museum but he doesn’t know where to start. Can you help?
Abbey House Museum
KS1, Early Years
Select
Bird Brains – Musical Mynahs
Why do birds sing and how do they do it? Fun activities and an interactive tour of the Lotherton Bird Garden exploring sound production through playing and listening to musical instruments.
Lotherton Hall
KS1
Select
Let's go on a Gruffalo Hunt!
“A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood…” A great introduction to simple wildlife identification for little ones. Can you guess which animal left a tell-tale trail in the woods?
Lotherton Hall
KS1
Select
Bird Brains – Freaky Beaky
Why do birds have beaks? What do they use them for? Compare the beak shapes of seed and meat eaters and discover the reasons why they have adapted in that way to suit their natural habitat.
Lotherton Hall
KS1, KS2
Select
Meet The Birdies
A fascinating interactive tour of the Lotherton Bird Garden with our resident experts. Plus, an opportunity to get up close and personal with some of our friendliest birds.
Lotherton Hall
KS1, KS2
Select
Bird Brains – Drawing From Experience
A two-hour interactive tour of the Bird Garden with an opportunity to look at and draw from life some of our birds. Great for improving observational skills and understanding design-for-purpose.
Lotherton Hall
KS1, KS2
Select
Bird Brains – Fabulous Flyers
Meet Archie – he’s an Opterix, our Dino-Bird glove puppet. Archie will introduces the science of powered flight and gliding, and show how close to dinosaurs our modern birds really are!
Lotherton Hall
KS1, KS2
Select
Hejvig The Hedge Witch
Why do we have hedgerows? What’s so important about them? What would the countryside be like if we didn’t have hedges? Find out more about the very local habitats of hedges during this two-hour workshop.
Lotherton Hall
KS2
Select
Nature Detectives
Can you tell which animal left a tell-tale trail in the woods? A perfect guided activity if you want to explore further afield. A guided walk teaching children about British wildlife and tracking skills.
Lotherton Hall
KS2
Select
Bird Brains – Extinction! Agghhh!
Why do birds become extinct? A guided investigation for older students about the causes of extinction.
Lotherton Hall
KS2, KS3
Select
Real Life Biology in Use
What makes Bird Garden’s like Lotherton’s so important? What would happen if they weren’t there? What happens as part of a breeding programme? Investigate the answers to these questions and more during this two-hour workshop for AS/A Level students.
Lotherton Hall
KS4, KS5
Select

Schools Learning Programme

Guided tours of Thwaite Mills for all key stages

What's involved?

Christmas Crafts at Thwaite Mills Watermill

Waterforce!

Wartime at Thwaite Mills Watermill

Guided tours of Thwaite Mills for all key stages

An Island Home

Marvellous Materials Trail

Maths at the Mill Trail

The Mill Children

Customer Services in a Museum Setting

Scribes and Skivvies

Getting to Know You

Me, Myself and I

Dress to Impress

Tudor Time Travellers

Art and Design: History of Style

Victorian Daily Life

Marvellous Materials

The Great Pulley Challenge

The Victorian Schoolroom

Skulls, Skeletons and Sustenance

Abbey House Murder Mystery

Teaching Time: putting the past in context

A House Fit for a King

Investigating Pattern

Deck the Halls

Revival: a textile project opportunity

Investigate and Experiment

Romans in Residence!

A Victorian Christmas at the Mill

Toys and Games

Marvellous Myths and Lively Legends

Houses and Homes

Shops and Shopping

Teacher INSET training at Leeds Art Gallery

Young Entrepreneurs

No Place Like Home

Playtime!

Ancient Egypt: A Day in the Life

Rocks and Fossils

Meet the Victorians

Bah Humbug!

Self-guided visits to Abbey House

Maths at the Monastery

Rage Against the Machine

The Art Team

Variety – The Spice of Life!

Tudor Portraits

WWII Evacuation Role Play

Going Green

Secondary Learning Pack for self-led visits to Armley Mills

Going to the Seaside with Souvenir Craft Activity Workshop

If Stones could Speak

Brother Gilbert's Day

Sculpture Skills

Portrait Skills

Be an Art Detective

Ways of Seeing

Secondary Learning Pack for self-led visits

Power and Politics

Primary Learning Pack for self-led visits to Armley Mills

Kings and Queens

Bringing The Ancient Egyptians to Life: Death on the Nile

Life in Leeds

Amazing Animals!

Leonora Cohen and the Suffragettes

Primary and Secondary Learning Packs for self-led visits to City Museum

Bringing the Romans to Life: Soldiers and Invaders

Sketchbook Studies

Bringing the Ancient Greeks to Life: How do we know about the Ancient Greeks?

Introductory talks for secondary schools to Leeds Art Gallery

Tudor Time Capsule

Discovery Tours

Factory Reform Challenge

Colour Skills

Mellow Monks

Introductory talks for primary schools to Leeds Art Gallery

Objects of Inspiration