School Museums Win Big Prizes

Left: This drawing by Luke is from his classroom's Dinosaur Museum.

Eleven schools have won prizes in a competition called 'Museum in a Classroom'. The prizes are £250, which the schools can spend on a museum visit for their pupils.

The entries were judged by a panel of top bods from the museum and gallery world along with your very own show.me.uk editor.

Children in schools all over the country have been finding, borrowing and making interesting items to put on display in their classroom museums.

Right: Victoria and Carla from Field Lane Primary drew this Egyptian Canopic jar.

Museums have lots of different jobs to do. They have to keep things safe, learn about those things and show them to visitors in a way that people can understand. As well as all of that, museums try hard to make their shows as fun and interesting as they can.

Children and their teachers have been working as teams to do all of those different jobs, with fantastic results.

Three of the eleven winning schools got Special Commendations, as their entries really impressed the judges.

Left: the gift shop's getting busy at the Dinosaur Museum...

In Derbyshire children from the Gamesley Early Excellence Centre set up a Dinosaur Museum. They have dino models, toys, books, artwork and even a gift shop! We thought their Stegosaurus number game looked really fun. This school was one of the top three.

Also commended was Stanilan Primary School in Lincolnshire. They chose World War Two as their theme. They made a living room in the style of the 1940s and collected lots of items to do with the war. Check out the wallpaper in the picture below - it must have taken them ages!

Right: this baby should be snug in its rug under there thanks to the kids at Stanilan Primary.

Field Lane Primary from Yorkshire made the top three as we loved their artwork in the style of Ancient Egypt. It looked as if lots of children were involved in setting up the museum and their entry really made us want to pop along for a look.

If you think this sounds like fun, you could talk to your teacher and ask them to send off for the 'Museum in a Classroom' pack (they can find it on 24 Hour Museum's Teacher's page) so that your class can become museum experts.

Left: Dr Charles Saumerez Smith, Director of the National Gallery with Show.me.uk editor Anra, trying to decide on those lucky winners.






© 24 Hour Museum.

Congratulations to all of the winning schools! We'd love to hear about your museum trips with the prize money - write and let us know how you got on and we'll put your letters up on the site!

The other schools who won prizes for their wonderful museums were: Sundridge and Brasted Primary School, Sevenoaks; Scremerston County First School, Berwick Upon Tweed; Newton Farm First Middle and Nursery School, South Harrow; Hugh Sexey Middle School, Nr Wedmore; Thornhill Primary School, Southampton; Foley Park First School, Kidderminster; Goseacre Primary School, Rotherham and Broad Square Primary School, Liverpool.

Children's work courtesy of Gamesley Early Excellence Centre, Stanilan Primary School and Field Lane Primary.