Coniston Junior School pupil's work

Year 6 group from Warrington
 

As a MODERN MUSEUM, with displays and interactives which enhance the collection, visitors have a great opportunity to appreciate the BROAD EDUCATIONAL VALUE which the Ruskin Museum can provide.

 What's good about museums, anyway ? They are a celebration of people, places, objects and events from the past. They ignite an enthusiasm for local heritage and can help to show pride and responsibility in the community. (Ruskin's work is very relevant to the whole theme of CITIZENSHIP). Visitors become inspired by what they are able to see and find out. Children learn  how the treasures of time are valuable to people in the present, and therefore need to be looked after for the future.
 Who's benefited so far ?  All ages - showing our provision for lifelong learning...School groups; adult/special interest groups; blind school/groups with disabilities; tourists; local people. The school groups from Barrow have worked on contrasting their locality with that of Coniston (Geog.KS2); other schools, from Wigan and Teesside (based at Outdoor Centres in Coniston) looked at geology, landscape, local crafts and the mining history. One school group from Wigan who had seen a video about Coniston were determined to come for the day to see for themselves what the place was all about - they said after a guided walk round the village and a visit to the museum that there was no substitute for the real thing ! They got so much out of it.


Many schools - local and otherwise - have taken advantage of our OUTREACH PROGRAMME - combining a visit to the Museum with a guided field trip to the Coniston Coppermines. They had a great time ! Jeff Wilkinson, Museum custodian and leader, has also taken adult groups on these walks of discovery, including Geology students from London University. The other custodian, Mike Humphreys, has led walks up on Yewdale Crags ('Ruskin's Footsteps') and in Coniston village (literary/artistic heritage; Campbell; local history.) People on these walks range from special interest groups to families and tourists. Feedback from our walks has indicated that  more learning happened because of the enjoyable, informal setting.  All walks are combined with a museum visit, and can be adapted to the needs of the school or group. (See WALKS section of site).
In the Museum itself we are fortunate enough to have a WALL-HANGING representing Coniston life which was put together by local schoolchildren on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of V.E. Day (1995). The panels include the old railway, Donald Campbell, the lake, Brantwood, the fells and farm life. More recently children from the Junior School worked in the Museum with actor/interpreter Iain McNichol as an Elizabethan copperminer. Iain also featured in the 'engage' project for Museums & Galleries Month which the Museum undertook with John Ruskin School and Brantwood. This was Key Stage 3 cross-curricular work on the theme of 'Mountain Landscapes' with a group of forty Year 7 students. It was televised for use on a local TV programme.

A school group from Warrington (Year 6s) stayed at the Youth Hostel and used the Museum and our guided walks in Yewdale and the Coppermines for work on an art-based cross-curricular project.  Swiss mature students used the Museum facilities while learning English and then took advantage of our expertise for guided walks; Mrs Elizabeth Prickett has led 2-day Ruskin Lace Courses on site. All these intend to be repeated. At other times, Japanese students and Arts&Crafts groups from Lancaster University have come to study the collections of Ruskin Lace and Langdale Linen. Having been approached by Asylum Link Merseyside, we were able to help out  some Asylum seekers (Doctors from Liverpool) giving them a discount to visit the Museum and a special walk up to the Coppermines. This enabled them to experience, as one of them put it, "solace in the English countryside."
'THE BIG DRAW' which  now happens every Autumn, (inspired by Ruskin and supported by the Guild of St George) has stimulated our museum visitors to sketch in situ. Art students from John Ruskin School have worked on various subjects in Coniston using different media, and panels showing the results of this work have been displayed in the Museum.


The talents of local interpreter/actor, Iain McNichol, have added an important dramatic dimension to education at the Museum. He played a schoolmaster on our Victorian day; he brought a group of actors to enact a local legend for the May Extravaganza in 2000; he played Professor Ruskin during our Centenary celebrations in August 2001. ( In a short play which also involved a fellow-actor playing his valet Baxter, Iain's Ruskin talked of his love of geology and his favourite walk up on the Yewdale fells. (Shown in the image.)

What else can the Museum do for us ?  'WE AIM TO PLEASE, SO USE OUR EXPERTISE.'
We are flexible, and will fit in with specific curriculum needs and cross-curricular activities. We have an information sheet available - 'Ruskin Museum : Looking at Educational possibilities' which covers History, Geography, Art, Language, Science and RE/Citizenship through the main key stages. We can also provide Teachers' Notes on a range of subjects, with worksheets if required. Work notes and booklets are available based on our recent 'Ruskin for All' project.
We need to work with schools, outdoor-centres, field-centres, colleges, adult groups/societies, etc and would appreciate any input.