History at Key Stage 1
For many of our youngest visitors this will be their first experience of a gallery or museum, so we introduce, in an enjoyable manner, the purpose of museums and the need to treasure the past.

Children and Families
By looking in detail at two or three family portraits from the seventeenth century, pupils discuss how the lives of children in the past differed from their own. Pupils then choose one child from a portrait to draw, using fabric crayons. For Nursery and Reception children we use one picture and include some dressing-up and posing.

Famous People
Pupils listen to stories about the lives of famous men and women in the past and look at how portraits depict the story. Famous stories include Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London, Flora MacDonald, Florence Nightingale and Beatrix Potter.

History at Key Stage 2

Tudor Times

The Tudors
Discussion about how portraits provide historical evidence for the period followed by practical art work. Worksheets may replace the practical art work if preferred. Children need to have studied the main events and characters before their visit.

Tudor Costume
Discussions of how clothes are portrayed in Tudor portraits, including some dressing-up, followed by practical art work.

Sir Henry Unton
In this half-day session a class of children reconstruct the life of the Elizabethan Ambassador, Sir Henry Unton, in mime and Tudor dance. The session starts with a detailed discussion of the portrait on slide revealing fascinating aspects of Elizabethan social history. Next, the children learn to dance a pavane and then in groups use the music to mime different aspects of Unton's life. They perform their completed work in front of Unton's portrait in the Gallery.

Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves Years 5 and 6 only
This role play recreates the negiotations for the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. The class is divided into two courts. Working from the Gallery's pictures and resources provided, the pupils produce drawings of their monarch together with written descriptions and devise questions to ask the other court. The two courts then meet and each court has to decide, with reasons, whether they think the marriage should go ahead or not. This session has been included by the QCA in the History Scheme of Work, Unit 7 "Why did Henry VIII marry six times?"

Victorian Britain

The Victorians
Discussions of how the portraits provide historical evidence, followed by practical art work. Worksheets may replace the practical art work if preferred. Children need to have studied the main events and characters before their visit.

Victorian Costume
Discussions of how clothes are portrayed in Victorian portraits, including some dressing-up, followed by practical art work.

Please contact the Education Department to apply for these sessions:

Contact and Booking Information

Education Programme 2008-09 - Primary (PDF file)

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 29 August 2008