In the heart of Wigan town centre, Wigan Museum tells the story of the people and places of the borough through our vast collection of historic artefacts, ranging from prehistoric right through to the present day.
We offer a selection of workshops for school groups which support learning across the curriculum. Pupils develop their skills through a range of activities including object handling, drawing, writing, observation, discussion, and immersive experiences. We want children to get to know their local museum and feel inspired by what they find!
Workshops last 90 minutes and are delivered at Wigan Museum on the following days and times. Please note we can only deliver to one class at a time.
- Mondays, 10am - 11:30am and 1pm - 2:30pm
- Tuesday mornings, 10am - 11:30am
If you can’t come on these times, please get in touch with us at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to accommodate your visit.
If you can’t come to us – we can come to you! We are happy to discuss versions of our sessions that can delivered at your school. We can also deliver a special school assembly telling your pupils all about our museum.
Key Stage 1 and 2 workshops at the Museum of Wigan Life
Coal Mining
KS1/KS2
Half day workshop
Pupils will learn about the history of coal mining in Wigan Borough through a range of sources - accessing artefacts and documents including archive images, maps, newspaper articles, safety equipment, clothing, and original mining tools which will help to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding of mining in the local area. Pupils will discover how local men, women and children worked in the mines, investigate local pit disasters, find out about local collieries, learn more about how Wigan coal powered the borough that in turn brought wealth and progress to the local towns.
Your Identity
KS1/KS2
Half-day workshop
Pupils will explore the meaning of ‘Identity’, both of their local area and what identity means for them as individuals. Maps and photographs will show the town’s links with its industrial past, demonstrating how it thrived, as well as how the local area has developed and changed over the years. Each session is tailored to where you are in the borough, and the museum’s collections and hands-on activities will bring to life the identity of where you live.
Victorian Box of Memories - How we lived
KS1/KS2
Half-day workshop
This hands-on interactive session will show how people in your area lived and worked during Victorian times. Through images and objects, the everyday lives of local people will be explored including work and school life, inventions, as well as how the local area changed, developed, and thrived during this era. By handling original artefacts, pupils will explore the similarities and differences between items used in a Victorian household and the equivalent items we use at home today. They will compare each object using words and observation to describe objects from the past and present.
Victorian Box of Memories – Toys of the Past
KS1
Half-day workshop
Using historical toys and visual resources, pupils will learn how children played and what they did in their free time as far back as 100 years ago. By handling and playing with historical examples, the session will encourage conversation around each of the objects, and through the joy of group interaction, pupils will experience how children used to play in the past to see if it is different to today. They will also use their observational skills to discuss as a group the differences between old and new toys.
Ancient Egypt
KS2
Half-day workshop
In this hands-on interactive session, pupils will explore how we came to know so much about the Ancient Egyptians through the archaeologists who first discovered this magical civilisation. They will learn about daily life, work, hieroglyphs, mummification, pyramids, and the local connection with a man called Sir John Scott. Through film, dressing-up, and hands-on activities, pupils will experience the journey to the afterlife through the Book of the Dead, be an archaeologist tasked with unearthing and documenting the treasures they find and learn all about Wigan’s priceless collection with a fact-finding trail.
Wigan’s Roman Bath House
KS2
Half-day workshop
Pupils will discover that Wigan was once a Roman town called Coccium, and how 2000 years ago, the Romans set up camp locally and stayed here for around 250 years. A bath house was only revealed when the Grand Arcade shopping centre was built a few years ago, and the exciting artefacts that were unearthed during that excavation are not only a part of the history of the town but a part of the history of Britain. This hands-on, fully interactive workshop uses a range of sources and original objects to tell the story of how the Roman’s lived, why they settled here, and what life was like all those years ago.
The Industrial Revolution and How it Changed Everything
KS2
Half-day workshop
In this hands-on workshop, pupils will explore the industrial revolution, how it changed the world, and how Wigan Borough powered this change through the coal it produced. Pupils will look at what life was like for people before, and after, everything changed. We will spotlight major inventions including the Spinning Jenny, the steam engine, water frame, and more. We will also examine the evolution of the workplace, what it was like for young children, as well as reveal the local inventors that changed the world!
Further information
If you wish to find out more information please contact us.