Handling real objects is so important in bringing history to life! We have created a number of loans boxes for schools, freely available for up to half a term.
Outreach
Sherborne Museum is committed to life-long learning and to making our collections as accessible as possible. Our popular series of loans boxes for schools and other groups are freely available to borrow for up to half a term; alternatively a guided session can be booked. We always welcome school visits and private tours which may be arranged out of hours by appointment. The outreach team encourages wider participation within the community, particularly with older audiences who may be unable to visit the museum, promoting wellbeing through active engagement with culture and heritage.
Loan boxes
A variety of games, jigsaws, finger puppets and glove puppets accompany the story books and rhymes. These provide bite-sized learning opportunities to develop key skills and are often the trigger for hours of creative and open-ended play. They are a powerful tool in early literacy, encouraging interest in the rhythms and patterns of language as well as fostering numeracy, social skills and confidence.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
This box contains a number of items supporting teaching on spiritual practices in Ancient Egypt, the societal hierarchy, hieroglyphs and the making of papyrus. It includes a game of Seega, a Rosetta stone plaque, models of sarcophagi and canopic jars, statues of various deities and replica jewellery and coins.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
This popular box contains a range of remarkably well crafted facsimile prehistoric tools and artefacts from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age, enabling students to understand the development of tools over time and changes in materials that were used. It also includes lesson plans for teachers introducing archaeology and the evolution of Stonehenge in its sacred landscape context.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
The Roman box holds genuine and reproduction coins, pottery fragments, glass, tesserae, an oil lamp and pieces of ridge tile as well as some cosmetic and medical implements. It includes notes on Saturnalia and several authentic Roman recipes.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
The Saxon box contains a range of well-crafted facsimile domestic items from this period such as wooden combs, bowls, buckets and beakers, jewellery, coins, a pair of child’s leather shoes and a doll. A copy of the Domesday book is included.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
“Reader, I married him”: this box is often used to supplement the study of Victorian literature such as Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”. Plenty of costumes for trying on with good examples of broderie anglaise, whitework and drawn threadwork. A range of domestic items is included, with a set of images of Sherborne School in the 1850s and a brief explanation of the silk industry in Victorian Sherborne. A lesson plan, “The Victorian Language of Flowers”, provides further supportive material.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
Items in this box can accompany ethical discussions on commemorating our war dead and the meaning of Remembrance and include a “Dead Man’s Penny”, red and white poppies, war poetry, First World War medals and information on how to read a war memorial, the Poppy Appeal, the Peace Pledge Union and Quaker Witness and War Service.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
Remember how, over two decades ago, we were all terrified of the Millennium Bug? You’ll find out why when you borrow this box which contains an array of local and national newspapers, fliers and brochures reflecting that moment in time when we entered the 21st century. There is a small selection of domestic and personal items in use at the time including a ZX81 Sinclair computer.
All loans boxes are provided completely free of charge for up to half a term. We only ask that the school arranges for pick-up and return at mutually agreed times, and that the box is returned in good order. Any breakages may incur a charge. Please contact us to register your interest.
It was absolutely perfect! We were made to feel very welcome and had an amazing morning. Elisabeth and Luke were very knowledgeable and communicated extremely effectively with the children, who were all fully engaged throughout. We were most impressed by how the workshop had been tailored to meet our learning objectives. There were lots of opportunities for children to handle artefacts and try on Victorian clothing, which they loved. They really enjoyed hearing the local stories about Sherborne and were talking about them all afternoon! They are also very excited that we have the loans box and they will be sharing the contents in our assembly next week. Thank you so much Sherborne Museum – we would love to come back again soon!
Antonia Littlewood, Prep 3 Teacher, Leweston Prep School