More than 40 year five and six pupils from Chesterton Primary School swapped their classrooms for galleries after stepping into roles at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, bringing fresh energy and ideas to the venue as part of national Takeover Day.
A total of 43 schoolchildren rolled up their sleeves and got involved in almost every aspect of running the museum during this special event. Held every November, Takeover Day sees museums, galleries, historic homes, archives, and heritage sites across England handed over to children and young people for a day of fresh ideas and creativity.
Rebecca Shellenberger, Corinium Museum’s Schools and Families Officer, said: “This year we were happy to give up the reins to Chesterton Primary. We trained the students in four areas of museum management – buildings management, front of house and the museum shop, PR/marketing, and collections.
“The children arrived with such great attitudes ready to learn and perform – I’ve been doing Takeover Day for the past eight or nine years, and I think this was the best yet. It’s so thrilling to see young people engage and develop enthusiasm and appreciation for our jobs.”
Dr Caroline Morris, Collections and Education Manager at the Corinium Museum, added: “It was wonderful to have the pupils from Chesterton Primary taking over the museum. We were really excited to hear what events they would like to see at the Corinium, what objects they were most interested in learning about and promoting, and their ideas for our museum shop.”
The Corinium Museum is passionate about including children and teenagers, from interactive games, play spaces, dressing up and other activities in galleries, to holiday family workshops, family trails, and school workshops. The museum is also setting up a Young Archaeology Club to encourage young people with an interest in archaeology to get some hands-on experience.
Charity Kids in Museums, supported by Arts Council England funding, launched Takeover Day in 2010 to help historic institutions give children meaningful roles in their organisations. Last year, more than 160 heritage organisations and 5,500 young people took part.
To find out more about Takeover Day – and who else is taking part – visit kidsinmuseums.org.uk/takeoverday
You can follow the conversation on social media by looking at the hashtag #TakeoverDay and following @KidsInMuseums.
