We headed into lockdown committed to keeping the Museum alive in your hearts, minds and across your digital devices. The Learning, Curatorial, Digital and Hidden London teams have been producing exciting new content for you to access from home. Our new Activities at Home page has quizzes, games and resources for families with children of all ages. Some are specifically aligned to the primary curriculum, blending history, science and making whilst also supporting core reading and comprehension skills. We have even recreated our popular Under 5s singing and stories sessions.
Many schools across the UK re-opened on Monday 1 June and we wish all staff, parents and carers and children well with this new phase. Whilst it must be exciting to be back in the classroom, there must also be lots of challenges and lots to get used to. We are thinking about ways in which we can support schools across London locally and digitally now and into the new academic year. If you have a child at school or you are a teacher and you have an idea for how the Museum can support your school, please get in touch [email protected].
Finger’s crossed, it won’t be too long before we are able to open the Museum and possibly even the Acton Depot again. Thinking about how to ensure your visit is safe, clean and socially distanced helps us to understand how to reimagine the visitor experience so that it continues to be fun, interesting and enriching. We are exploring making use of our outdoor spaces, how digital apps and trails might add interactivity to a visit, pre-packed making kits and small scale live experiences amongst many other things.
In spite of this being a challenging time for the Museum, we are also really proud to have continued to deliver some of our more specialised programmes too. Our Young People’s Skills Programme supports young Londoners aged 16-25 who are in low or no employment/under employed and are seeking meaningful careers in the cultural and transport sectors. Since the end of March, we have delivered 373 hours of digital learning through interactive employability workshops; we have engaged our young freelancers in work across the Museum and we have delivered some soundscape workshops with young people in Thamesmead. We know that as we emerge from this crisis life will be challenging and we are committed to playing our part in shaping a positive future for everyone.