Tudors Session Information

This session can be taught: 

• at Palace Green Library* 
• as outreach in your school
• as an online session 

*Please note, due to extensive building works, we cannot offer this workshop at the Museum of Archaeology at this time. We apologise for any inconvenience.

The content of these sessions does vary as we have the galleries to use at the museum, but we try to keep them as similar as possible.

Visit to the Museum: 

Please Note: Due to extensive building works on our school teaching spaces this session will not be available to primary groups as we cannot provide the facilities these groups need for lunch and toilets. We aim to start these onsite sessions for Spring term 2025. 

• Castle Tour – explore the Tudor history of Durham Castle, following the life of its most famous Tudor resident, Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, whose life and role spanned the Tudor dynasty.
• Object Handling and Investigation – we show the children how to be mini archaeologists, while looking at and holding original and replica artefacts in our Tudors collection. We ask them to use their observation and historical enquiry skills, as well as any prior knowledge to form a theory about what they are and were used for. They will share some of their theories before we reveal what archaeologists think they are. 
• Inventories – we help your class learn how to read these 400-year-old documents, and find out what kind of things ordinary Tudor people kept in their homes.

Need to know:

• The day at the museum runs from 10am – 2.15pm approximately and is entirely taught by members of our Learning and Engagement Team.
• The maximum number of children we can take on one day is approximately 60 children.
• The cost of the visit is £6 per pupil, and free for all accompanying adults.
• Lunch can be eaten in our Learning Centre, or if the weather is good and you would like to, you can sit outside on Palace Green and have a picnic. 

Directions to the Museum

Outreach Day at School:

• Object Handling and Investigation – we show the children how to be mini archaeologists, while looking at and holding original and replica artefacts in our Tudors collection. We ask them to use their observation and historical enquiry skills, as well as any prior knowledge to form a theory about what they are and were used for. They will share some of their theories before we reveal what archaeologists think they are.
• Inventories – we help your class learn how to read these 400-year-old documents, and find out what kind of things ordinary Tudor people kept in their homes. 
• Tudor Portraits – discover what kind of hidden symbols wealthy Tudors would sneak into their portraits, and what this can reveal about what kind of people they were. Finally, the children can try on some Tudor-style clothes and have a partner sketch their portrait – under their own strict instruction, of course! 

Need to know: 

• For an outreach day, we aim to arrive at school to begin teaching at 9.30am, fitting in around the established school breaks of your school, until approximately 20 minutes before the end of your school day.
• We can teach up to three classes on the same day on outreach, but early bookings are essential so we can allocate the required number of staff to make it possible.
• The cost for outreach is £5 per pupil, with an additional flat rate charge of £20 towards transport costs. 

Online Session:

• Object Investigation – we show the children how to be mini archaeologists, using our overhead camera, to give them a detailed look at our Tudor artefacts. Having modelled how to use our artefact investigation sheets, we ask the children to independently use their observation and historical enquiry skills, as well as any prior knowledge to form a theory about what they are and were used for. They will share some of their theories before we reveal what archaeologists think they are. 
• Inventories – we help your class learn how to read these 400-year-old documents and find out what kind of things ordinary Tudor people kept in their homes. 

Need to know: 

• An online session is two hours in length.
• Session times are 9.30am – 11.30am and 1pm – 3pm, but we can accommodate slightly different timings. Please ask at the point of booking if this is something that would be helpful for you.
• You will need to book a short test call with us to check that you can see and hear us on the whiteboard in your classroom. These are available at 3.30pm, 3.45pm and 4pm.
• We ask that you book separate sessions for each of your classes so we can keep them as interactive as possible. 
• You will be sent an email with resources to print out before your session. 
• The cost of the sessions is £45 per class. 

National Curriculum Link:

History - Key Stage 2: A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils historical knowledge beyond 1066. 

Develop a chronologically secure knowledge. 

Use of historical terms. 

Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources. 

Address and devise historically valid questions.

Session costs