Things to consider before you start

Heritage learning involves people of all ages and at all stages in their life. What learning activities you offer as an organisation will depend on your collections and the resources you have. Learning programmes are as varied as the heritage organisations across the UK.

What resources and capacity do you have to be able to deliver learning activities?

It is better to do something small and do it well than over extend.  Developing and delivery a learning activity that is manageable for you as an organisation and is a high quality experience for those who attend will ensure people return or pass on to others their good experience.

What will you offer as your learning activity?

There are a wide range of learning activities you can deliver. A good resource for looking at what others do is the GEM (Group for Education in Museums) Case Studies. They provide a wealth of good practice ideas from heritage organisations of all types, sizes and with a huge variety of different collections.

How and where will you deliver your activities?

Delivery encompasses onsite as well as remote learning, and a programme of activities containing a mix of digital and face to face interactions will meet the needs of a wide range of people.  Heritage organisations deliver a variety of talks, workshops, events, and activities.

Who do you want to work with?

The main audiences for learning activities are:

• Early years (2-5 years)
• Children and families 4-8 years
• Children 8-12 years
• Young People (13 – 18)
• Uniformed groups for example Brownies or Scouts
• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools
• Adults
• Older people

Why are you wanting to offer learning activities?

They may be a range of reasons why you want to offer learning activities from expanding who you reach with your collections beyond the specialists that you currently work with to exploring working with a new audience group as you have receive funding for a project.