Home educator day

Great North Museum: Hancock

Thursday 17 March 2016

Contents

Participant information List of sessions and descriptions Timetable Additional information

Information about home educator day

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Participant information

Arrive at the Museum and enter via the Claremont Road Schools Entrance to the rear of the museum.

There is no parking on site. There is limited parking for Blue Badge holders only. The nearest Newcastle Council car park is on Claremont road. The Great North Museum: Hancock is only a five minute walk from Haymarket Metro and Bus stations. Haymarket Metro station is just two stops from Central Station the mainline rail station. The museum is well signposted from both stations.

Cost

We have not charged for you to attend the event because it is a pilot however we do accept donations which can be deposited in onsite donation boxes or for a donation of £30 or more, you can sponsor a butterfly on our Butterfly Wall. Details can be found by clicking here.

If you would like to see a planetarium show on the day then a small charge will be incurred. Show titles, timings and ticket prices can be found in the session description on page 7.

Access

The Claremont Road Schools entrance is fully accessible to wheelchair users. Inside the Museum there are lifts and stairs providing access to all floors. All lifts have voice announcers and Braille indicators. The Museum is spread out across the ground floor and first floor. All floors have level access. Stairs have raised tactile indicators on the underside of the handrails.

Registration

Registration will take place through the Claremont Road Schools Entrance along the Butterfly Wall between 10.00 – 11.00. On registering you need to give us the name you have booked under and we can tick off your name on our attendance sheet. You will be given a map and a wristband which will enable you to participate in the activities. The event is fully booked and we are expecting a large volume of parents, carers and children at the event so there may be a short queue at this point.

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Facilities

No eating or drinking is allowed in any of the museum galleries. There will be a space provided for packed lunches in Clore 2 on the ground floor on the Museum from 11.00- 14.00. You are also welcome to use the two one site cafés. The Street Cafe is located on the ground floor at the rear of the Museum. Hot and cold drinks are available as well as sandwiches, cakes and snacks. The large “Hancock Café” is located on the first floor at the front of the Museum. A full licensed restaurant service is available here.

There are separate male, female, accessible and family toilets on the ground floor. There are separate male, female and accessible toilets on the first floor. The accessible toilet on the ground floor at the rear of the Museum also has a shower with a seat. There is baby changing in the male and female toilets on both the ground and first floors and in the family toilet on the ground floor at the front of the Museum.

There is a shop at the front of the museum if you want to buy any souvenirs and there are secure lockers to the left of the main entrance (£1 charge per use).

Behaviour

Adults are responsible for the supervision and conduct of children at all times. The museum is a big and busy building so it is important that children are not left unattended. We politely ask that adults do not allow children to run or shout in the museum and to be considerate of the other visitors and those participating in the activities at all times.

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List of sessions and descriptionsAll sessions are drop in however will run at certain times. This special event has attracted a lot of interest so there may be periods when you need to wait your turn or come back to an activity later in the day. In addition to all these activities we have a substantial range of free resources to download and bring with you on the day which can be found from here. The museum is open until 17.00 so once the activities have come to an end you are still able to explore the rest of the museum.

Animal adaptations

Where: Natural Northumbria, first floor

When: 10.00 – 12.00 and 12.30 – 14.00

Join the Boxes of Delights team to learn about how different species of birds have adapted to survive in the wild.

Archaeology antics

Where: Clore 1, ground floor

When: 10.00 – 12.00 and 12.45 – 14.00

Join the learning team from Arbeia Roman Fort to have a go at a mini archaeology dig, cataloguing and sorting objects, turning an object into a paper mosaic or writing a story around a series of objects to practice literacy skills.

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Wonderful weaving – Warp and Weft

Where: World Cultures gallery, first floor

When: 10.00 – 12.00 and 12.30 – 14.00

Join the learning team from the Shipley Art Gallery to have a go at different weaving techniques and make a bowl or a mat.

Street Scientists

Where: Hadrian’s Wall, ground floor

When: 10.00 - 14.00

Join the Street Scientists from Newcastle University to see some awesome experiments using everyday objects.

Thaumatropes and zoetropes

Where: Living Planet, ground floor

When: 10.00 – 11.30 and 12.30 – 14.00

Join the learning team from the Discovery Museum to learn about optical illusions and make your own thaumatrope.

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Local wildlife and recording

Where: Natural Northumbria

When: 11.00 – 13.00

Join the ERIC North East team to learn about our local wildlife and find out how you can get involved and help record what lives in your local environment.

Egyptian investigations; Mummies Unwrapped

Where: Ancient Egyptian gallery, first floor

When: 12.30 – 14.00

Join the Great North Museum: Hancock learning team to find out about our two resident mummies Irtyru and Bakt en Hor. X-rays and 3D scans will be on display to have a look at and replica objects that would have been used by Egyptian embalmers.

Investigating the extraordinary Gertrude Bell

Where: Temporary exhibition space

When: 11.00 – 13.00

Join the Great North Museum: Hancock learning team to hear about the extraordinary Gertrude Bell and go and explore

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Human evolution

Where: Living Planet, ground floor

When: 10.00 – 12.00

Join the learning team from the Great North Museum: Hancock and our collection of replica skulls to find out the evolution of our own species.

Gruffalo Storytime and live snake showing (aimed at under 5s)

Where: Mouse House & Living Planet for the live snakes, ground floor

When: 12.30 – 13.00 (live snakes 12.50 – 13.00), 13.00 – 13.30 (live snakes 13.20 – 13.30), 13.30 – 14.00 (live snakes 13.50 – 14.00)

Join the Great North Museum: Hancock learning and biology team to hear the Gruffalo story and then have a chance to meet a real snake afterwards.

Planetarium

Where: Planetarium, first floor. Please purchase your tickets from the shop on the ground floor.

10.15, 10.45, 12.30, 14.00 Earth Moon Sun (25 minutes, recommended for KS1+ children)

11.15, 13.00 Sea Monsters: a Prehistoric Adventure (40 minutes, recommended for KS1+ children)

12.00 Fragile Planet (25 minutes, recommended for KS2+ children)

Prices: Earth Moon Sun & Fragile Planet; adult £2.50, concessions £1.50

Prehistoric Sea Monsters; adult £2.95, concessions £1.95

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Activity name Location 10.00 – 10.30

10.30 – 11.00

11.00 – 11.30

11.30 – 12.00

12.00 – 12.30

12.30 – 13.00

13.00 – 13.30

13.30 – 14.00

Animal adaptations

Natural Northumbria

Archaeology antics

Clore 1

Wonderful weaving

World Cultures

Thaumatropes and zoetropes

Living Planet

Street Scientists Hadrian’s Wall

Wildlife and recording

Natural Northumbria

Egyptian investigations

Ancient Egypt

Gertrude Bell Temporary exhibition space

Human evolution Living Planet

Gruffalo Storytime

Mouse House Please note - there will be no access to the Mouse House until 11.30 am due to a booked event.

Planetarium Planetarium

Lunch space Clore 2

Timetable of facilitated activities

Additional information

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Polar Explorers

Polar explorers is our new exhibition for families with young children. In the exhibition you can discover what life is like in the coldest places on Earth. The resilient ways of life of people and wildlife living in polar extremes will be explored in this immersive exhibition, inspiring young minds through sensory and accessible stimulation.

Downloadable resources

In addition to the facilitated sessions on offer the whole museum will be open to explore. You might find it beneficial to download resources from our website to supplement the sessions.

Feedback

This event is a pilot for the museum so we will be emailing out a formal evaluation form after the event. In addition to this we would welcome any comments from you on the day so that we can make a judgement as to whether we will run this kind of event in the future.

Finally

Thank you for choosing to attend the home educator’s day at the Great North Museum: Hancock. We hope that you and your group enjoy the day, find it supportive to your children’s learning and will continue to support cultural venues in the North East.

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