The Royal Armouries leads the way! - 26/10/2009

Fully endorsing the philosophy of the LOtC manifesto, the Royal Armouries Museum offers an education programme with extensive cross-curricular links.

Spanning Key Stage one to degree level, with themes from monkey business to Paradise Lost, the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds was one of the first national museums in Britain to scoop a Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge. The sought-after accreditation, recognising the Royal Armouries (RA) as providers of quality, safely-managed educational experiences, was awarded in April 2009.

The Royal Armouries is promoted as one of the oldest museums in Britain, and is currently located at three sites across the UK: The White Tower at the Tower of London, housing an extensive collection of Royal Arms and armour from Henry VIII, Charles I and James II; Fort Nelson in Hampshire, which boasts a fantastic artillery collection; and the purpose-built Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, which is home to the museum’s Medieval, Stuart and Oriental collections in addition to arms and armour dating from the 18th century to the present day.

Not stuffy, just the stuff of fun

The Royal Armouries Education programme in Leeds is wide-ranging and caters for all learners, from Early Years and Foundation Stage, through Key Stages one to four, to post-16 and degree level. Learning manager, Gillian Waters explained: “We fully endorse the philosophy of the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto and our learning team provides excellent educational experiences which link to the National Strategies and Curricular but also provide cross-curricular links and promote creativity and enrichment learning. We aim to provide a programme that’s fun – and not stuffy – and really engages people of all ages and levels.”

The RA is also one of the first museums to be involved in the Find Your Talent initiative in Leeds, and staff have worked with extended school partnerships to provide informal Learning Outside the Classroom experiences.

Exciting interactive workshops have been designed for Foundation and Reception students, with additional workshops supporting the National Curriculum at Key Stages two, three and four, as well as post-16 students. These sessions aims to make connections with a wide range of subjects such as History, English and Literacy, Citizenship, Science, Technology, Geography and Art.

The museum’s collection also provides a challenging environment for budding artists to explore the wider issues of contemporary society through study, creativity and discussion.