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Valence House Museum School Heritage Education Programme

2017

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Contents

Valence House School’s Programme

Valence House Museum: An Introduction 3 How to get to us 4

Toys 5 Local History 6 Dagenham Town Show 7 Medieval Times 8 Two Queens 9 Festival – Victorian Christmas 10 Our Local Area 11 Prehistoric Times 12 Celts and Romans 13 Vikings and/or Saxons 14 Work & Leisure in Victorian times 15 World War II – ‘on the home-front’ 16 Leisure & Entertainment in Modern Britain 17 Anniversaries – World War 1 Centenary 18

Activity Days 19 Outreach and Loan Boxes 20

Further Information and Bookings 21

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Valence House Museum: An Introduction

Valence House Museum dates from the Medieval Period and is the only surviving of the manor house of Dagenham. Following extensive refurbishment in 2010, 10 exciting new galleries, a film room and a temporary exhibition gallery opened to tell the story of Barking and Dagenham through the ages. The museum contains over 400 individual exhibits dating from Prehistoric times to the present day. Next to the museum is the local studies library containing written material, maps, photographs and books from the 1300s onwards. Visiting schools are taught by professional museum educators in our Education suite and within the museum galleries.

The Heritage Education Service has the use of large numbers of handling artefacts original and recreation as well as clothes and other dressing up material. Education sessions can contain object handling, role play, presentations, gallery trails, art and craft, cookery and games.

The museum is a safe environment with formal gardens and large open lawns for play and for picnicking in the warmer months.

For adults the Oasis Café open Tuesdays to Saturdays sells hot drinks, sandwiches, salads and other light refreshments.

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How to find us

Valence House Museum, Becontree Avenue, Dagenham, Essex. RM8 3HT

By Road:

• Valence House is close to the junction of Valence Avenue and Becontree Avenue • Free parking is available in Valence Park (via Becontree Avenue) and on Becontree

Avenue.

By Bus:

• Bus routes 62, 128, 150 and 5 run nearby

By Rail:

• Chadwell Heath Station (TFL Rail) then a 62 bus or 15-minute walk • Becontree Station (London Underground, District Line) then a 62 bus

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Toys

Outline: Compare toys from different periods.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History - 'pupils should develop an awareness of the past', 'using words & phrases relating to the passing of time' and be introduced to a 'chronological framework'.

Suitable for: Reception & Key Stage 1

Sessions:

1. Toys through time - object handling: toys from different periods of time, including Victorian, Edwardian, Post-War era and through to present day. Providing opportunities to examine and discuss the similarities and differences between old and new toys. Focusing on what materials they are made from, how they move and why they are fun to play with. We will use a time-line, to introduce chronological awareness.

2. Museum trail - toy cabinet: close observation, description and comparison of materials, colours, and other adjectives to describe old toys. Pupils are encouraged to make judgements about their enjoyment value, and to draw and label them.

3. Craft Session - making a peg doll: using scissors, pens, wool and fabrics pupils make their own toy to play with.

Variations: Key Stage 1 pupils can combine sessions 2 and 3 to add an additional session:

4. Storytelling - using Victorian objects: Literacy session which encourages pupils to use their toys for imaginative play by having them make up stories about their peg dolls.

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Local History

Outline: Using a variety of tools and methods discover the area’s history throughout the ages.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History- an overview of 'significant historical events, people & places in your locality' emphasising a 'chronological framework'.

Suitable for: Key Stage 1

Sessions:

1. Historical pageant – with costumes and objects: the pupils experience local history, through the ages, as they walk through the museum galleries. At each stage they will be introduced to a period of history through local stories/role play, and given the opportunity to dress up &/or handle objects representing that period.

2. Dig' through time - an introduction to archaeology: using our new excavation pit, pupils will literally unearth objects from the different ages, going back through time, i.e. Victorian, Tudor, Viking and Roman, down to a 'Stone Age' find. The objects will also appear in pictures showing their usage, for the children to study and explain and timeline chronologically.

3. Museum trail - through the upper galleries: introducing local themes from the 19th and 20th centuries, including - town and country, leisure, and work.

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Dagenham Town Show

Outline: Using a variety of methods to discover the history of the Dagenham Town Show.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History- an overview of 'significant historical events, people & places in your locality' referencing a 'chronological framework'.

Suitable for: Key Stage 1

Sessions:

1. A Day at the Show - Discover what life was like for children in 1950’s and the significance of the Dagenham Town Show. What happened on the day of the show. Dressing up in costume and acting out a Town Show parade.

2. Town Show Competitions – Learning about the types of competitions at the show and what judges were looking for. Arranging eggs and vegetables for a competition following the competition rules.

3. Museum Trail –Looking at the Town Show trophies and toys and leisure time for 1950’s children.

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Medieval Times Outline: Developing an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases

relating to the passing of time. Identifying similarities and differences between ways of

life in different periods.

Understanding some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify

different ways in which it is represented.

Learning about significant events, people and places in their own locality.

Suitable for: Nursery and KS1

Sessions:

1. Learning how to be a knight – Aylmer De Valence. The activities and

preparations for boys training to become Knights/Princes (including the duties of

Pages and Squires). Making a shield.

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3. Practicing to become a Princess – Agnes De Valence. The clothes, toys,

duties and preparation of girls being a Princess. Making a Medieval crown.

4. Museum Trail – Following a medieval trail in the Museum

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Two Queens

Outline: compare the lives of local people during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History- teaching about, ' the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements'. We will also link their achievements to the local perspective and explore the theme of domestic life during their reigns.

Suitable for: Key Stage 1

Sessions:

1. Elizabethan family life – object handling and costumes: looking at the domestic life of the Lucy family who lived at Valence House during Elizabeth I's reign. Focusing on health, hygiene and clothing in Tudor times, including a sensory experience of the herb garden, in contrast with pupils’ own experiences...

2. Victorian 'Maid of all work' – object handling and singing: daily chores from the viewpoint of a servant of the May family, living at Valence House during the late 19th century, before we had electricity...

3. Museum trail - Tudor & Victorian themes

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Festivals -Victorian Christmas

Outline: Learn the history of Christmas traditions

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History- ‘pupils should be taught about... events commemorated by festivals’

Suitable for – Key Stage 1 & Key Stage 2

Sessions:

1. Decorating a Christmas tree – object handling and pictorial history of this custom popularized by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: As the pupils decorate the tree they find out the history behind some typical tree decorations.

2. Making a Christmas pudding – cooking activity: Pupils play the role of a cook mixing a traditional Christmas pudding and learning about the background to the traditional ingredients and customs.

3. Museum trail and craft activity – drawing the Valence House Christmas tree and making their own Christmas tree decorations: Pupils visit the museum to sketch the tree and other traditional decorations then make and decorate a traditional cornucopia tree decoration.

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Our Local Area

Outline: Use the museum and archive to investigate your school and area.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives:

History ‘a local study: over time, tracing how several aspects of national history are reflected in the locality’.

Suitable for: Key Stage 2

Sessions:

1. Archaeological dig – object handling, slides and chronological sequencing: to illustrate key events from the borough’s past that link to national historical themes.

2. Archive session - specifically tailored to your school and surrounding area: the pupils are introduced to the archives, where they will examine a range of documents linked to their school and local area.

3. Local History Museum trail

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Prehistoric Times:

Outline: This education day turns the clock back four and a half thousand years and looks at what life was like at the time of the Dagenham Idol (pictured). Pupils will learn about the challenges facing pre-historic man and how their technology and beliefs adapted to meet them.

This supports teachers in meeting the new curriculum requirement that pupils should learn about “changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age”.

Suitable for: Key Stage 2

Sessions:

1. Object Handling: pupils will look at the tools pre-historic people used to build fires, shelter, keep warm and feed themselves. It will look at how stone gave way to bronze, skins to textiles and hunting to farming.

2. Craft Session: In this session pupils learn about the importance of pottery, how it is made and make their own Bronze-Age pots.

3. Museum Trail: A trail around the museum galleries focusing on the Dagenham Idol and new exhibits built for the session including a replica of a Bronze Age child’s grave. The trail will also emphasis the role that archaeology and archaeologists play in finding out about the past.

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Celts and Romans

Outline: Learn about Celtic society and the Roman invasion

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History – ‘Iron Age hill forts: tribal kingdoms, farming, art and culture; the Roman Empire by AD42 and the power of its army; successful invasion by Claudius and conquest; British resistance, Boudica and the Romanisation of Britain’.

Suitable for: Key Stage 2

Sessions:

Introduction - Archaeological Dig - unearthing and examining Roman objects...

1. The Claudian invasion of Britain in AD43 – object handling and illustrated discussion: Learning about the organisation of the Roman Army and the resistance and warfare of Celtic tribes, with a focus on armour and weapons.

2. Camulodunum in AD 60 – object handling, costumes and role-play: the story of a retired legionary and his family living in this town at the time of Boudicca's attack. The background to Boudicca’s revenge.

3. Museum trail – Celts and Romans: Focusing on local settlements & 'finds'- both Iron Age (Celtic) and Roman, including evidence of the Romanisation of the Celts in our local area, with opportunities for dressing up and drawing.

Celts and Romans can be followed up with a Roman Activity day

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The Vikings

Vikings and/or Anglo-Saxons

Outline: to learn what archaeology tells us about the people who lived in our locality

between AD 410 and 1066.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives for History: ‘Anglo-Saxon invasions, settlements

and Kingdoms: place names and village life; Christian Conversion and Viking Raids.’ It

also offers the opportunity for a local history – depth study.

Suitable for: Key Stage 2

Sessions:

1. The Body in the Box: Archaelogical Sandbox Dig – unearthing Viking or

Saxon objects and discussing what they are made of and their likely uses, to

learn more about the life of their former owner and who s/he could have been.

Including small group investigations of artefacts.

2. Viking or Saxon Religion: illustrated discussion with costumes and drama

– an overview of the central beliefs and characters in Viking mythology, including

a performance of the story of the ‘Death of Balder the Beautiful’ (featuring Loki

and Thor). Or an overview of the return of Christianity to our local area during

Saxon times (following the visit of Saint Augustine to England in AD 597).

Including a dramatic retelling of the story of Barking Abbey, built in AD 666, with

references to St Erkenwald and his sister, the first Abbess, St Ethelberger; the

lives of the nuns and the Viking raids of AD 871.

3. Anglo-Saxons and Vikings Museum Trail: focusing on Barking Abbey, which

was raided by the Vikings, in AD 871. Examining the lives of Saxon nuns, using

finds from the Abbey and imagining the Viking attack.

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Work & Leisure in Victorian times

Outline: Learn about the daily routines, chores and leisure time of the Victorians.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History-‘a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 i.e. changes in an aspect of social history.’ This will be taught from a local perspective.

Suitable for: Key Stage 2

Sessions:

1. Work – costumes, props and role play- an illustrated discussion of different forms of work in Victorian Barking and Dagenham,

2. Leisure - object handling and role play – looking at the many new forms of sports and leisure activities available for the wealthier families like the Mays at Valence House, during this period

3. Museum trail – Victorian work and leisure

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World War II on the Home Front

Outline: Learn about the home front during World War II. Meeting the new curriculum criteria: History ‘A local history study... over time, tracing how several aspects of national history are reflected in the locality (beyond

1066)’.

Suitable for: Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3

Sessions:

1. Evacuation Session – object handling and role play: addressing the when, why how and where evacuees were evacuated to (from the local area) examining their experiences of packing and being billeted to their foster homes, through object handling, images and role play.

2. Blitz Session – object handling: discussing when this occurred and the types of bombs fell and the destruction they caused. We look at the role of the ARP warden and young volunteers and visit the Anderson Shelter in the garden.

3. Museum Trail – Second World War themed.

Variations: This would be suitable for a small group of Key Stage 3 students, including pupils with special educational needs. It can be a two day trip including the World War II activity day or a separate follow up visit in the summer term.

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Leisure & Entertainment in Modern Britain

Outline: Discover the changes and continuity in how we spend out leisure time.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History– ‘changes in an aspect of social history … such as ... leisure and entertainment in the 20th Century.’

Suitable for: Key Stage 2

Sessions:

1. Modern Britain - object handling: relating to themed topics e.g. Home entertainments – music, TV and the digital revolution and/or Toys and games – from the popularity of plastic to the electronic revolution and digital age...

2. A visit to the Archives and group investigations: Possible themes: Local Musicians - from Sandie Shaw and Billy Bragg to Zara McFarlane; Local Sports Stars - from athlete Jim Peters in the 1950s, to the local football sensations of the 1960s, including World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore, to gold medal winning paralympian Beverly Gull Local TV/film stars – from entertainers like Dudley Moore to Stacey Soloman and reality TV shows; Local consumerism – how shops like Andrews with its electrical items for the 1950s home have been replaced by out of town shopping and/or ‘high street’ fashion shopping in busy town centre.

3. Modern Britain Museum trail - focusing on leisure and entertainment in the post war era

Variations – both work and leisure sessions can be adapted for small Key Stage 3 groups including students with special needs. or by a comparison with: Leisure & Entertainment in Modern Britain

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Anniversaries World War I Centenary

Outline: Develop a deeper understanding of the First World War using objects handling.

Meeting the new curriculum objectives: History-‘events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally or commemorated through festivals or anniversaries’.

Suitable for: all Key Stages

Sessions vary by Key Stage

Key Stage 1 Introduction to World War I –

Sessions 1. Object handling and slides. 2. Memory Boxes and Poppy making craft. 3. Museum trail with World War I themes.

Key Stage 2 Sessions

1. Introduction to World War I 2. Object handling and slides. 3. Air Raid Session – using the archives: investigating World War I documents. 4. Museum trail with World War I themes

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Activity Days

Activity Days provide an opportunity to build on the learning of previous visits in a fun, hands-on and interactive way emphasising craft activities, outdoor cooking, drama and dance. Activity days can be arranged in the summer term.

Celts & Romans: Suitable for: Key Stage 2 Sessions:

1. Outdoor Roman cooking

2. Roman Jewellery making

3. Roman Re-enactment: The Bloody life of the Roman Empress Agrippina

World War II: Suitable for: Key Stage 2 Sessions:

1. Outdoor “Blitz” cooking

2. Designing and printing government information posters 3. World War II, themed drama, Johnny Bright, the Evacuee

Living History Suitable for: Key Stage 1 Sessions:

1. Tudor dancing and games 2. Victorian life and crafts 3. Outdoor cooking, World War II and post-war rationing and cooking

Pre History Suitable for Key Stage 2 Sessions

1. Food & Cooking 2. Bronze Making 3. Prehistoric bushcraft game

Anglo Saxon Sessions

1. Weaving 2. Outdoor cooking 3. Riddles and storytelling

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Outreach and Loan boxes

Anniversaries – Remembrance Day

Suitable for – Key Stages 1 and 2

Meeting the new curriculum objectives –

‘events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally or commemorated through festivals or anniversaries’

Sessions – a museum educator visits your school for an illustrated talk, using objects and images. Detailed session plans will be created after consultation with staff.

Loan Box Traditional seaside holidays

A box of objects and suggested activities for Key Stage 1 or 2 intended for classroom use.

A loan box is also available for pre history which is available for use by schools who are coming on a pre history education day.

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Further Information and Bookings

Inclusive learning

We are keen to offer learning opportunities to children with Special Educational Needs. Our resources are multi-sensory, including sounds, smells and object handling. We welcome children of all ages and abilities and are happy to adapt our sessions to suit your children’s needs. To discuss SEN provision further, or adapting the content of the sessions to suit different age groups or learning outcomes, please contact us.

We are also happy to create new topics and sessions for your students using our museum facilities and resources, if you have clear learning objectives and outcomes.

Costs Costs per child per day £6.00 for children of LBBD schools

£8.50 schools external to borough Surcharge £3 per child for Activity days. Surcharge 50p per child for Pre History, Toys and Victorian Christmas

Contact Details

To book or for further information please contact Amanda Wray, Amanda.wray@lbbd.gov.uk , 0208 227 5293 or Mark Watson on 020 8227 5242