Schools

Loan Boxes

Artefacts, resources and activities to use in your classroom

Free for schools during the 2024/25 academic year

Nothing quite beats handling an original artefact so our loan boxes are a great way for schools to extend learning about local history within the classroom. We currently have loan boxes on four topic areas:

• Mining
• Schooldays
• Leisure
• Toys

Each loan box contains artefacts and resources, and comes with activities that are suitable for the classroom. 

The activities are cross-curricular, so as well as offering interactive engagement with local history they also cover, English, Art, PSHE, Music, Science, Biology, Drama and Technology.

Boxes can be loaned for a 3-week period and are completely free during 2024/25, we just ask that you collect them directly from the museum.

What other schools have said:

“Thank you so much for the loan boxes. They really brought our Victorians topic to life. It was great to be able to have the artefacts on display and to allow the children to handle them.” Granby Junior School, Ilkeston

School Tours

A fascinating way for children to engage with a variety of learning topics, while having a fun day out.

£3.50 per child, accompanying adults free, available Tuesday to Friday.

We welcome school visits to our restored Victorian miner’s cottage.

For Key Stage 1 and 2 children, the tour of the Birthplace Museum is complemented by a choice of activity sessions including:

• Wash day Do the laundry Victorian style in our interactive wash-house.
• Rag-rug making The thrifty craft which is always a favourite with children.
• The tea party Role play, fine china and fairy cakes.
• History detectives A chance to get hands on with our mystery artefacts.

The focus is social and local history, but tours incorporate cross-curricular study including English, Citizenship, Art, and more.

For Key Stage 3 and 4 children, educational visits give an insight into what life was like in a typical late Victorian working-class home, with our experienced guides discussing D.H. Lawrence’s formative years. This is particularly useful for introducing children to literature in context.

For older students, a tour of the Museum can be complemented by taking them into the local countryside to see the sights and sounds which inspired Lawrence in his writing.

Our lovely historic building does have some access limitations. Due to the restrictions of the Grade II listed building, there is no lift and no wheelchair access to the upper floors. If you are unable to use the stairs we can offer digital access tours on the ground floor. As the rooms are small, classes are divided into groups of 10.

What other schools have said:

“We all enjoyed ourselves! It is a fantastic way for students to learn how we used to live.”  Nottingham Emmanuel School, West Bridgford

“Fantastic enthusiasm from all staff, as well as great helpfulness!” Springbank Primary School, Eastwood.

Digital Tours

Can’t bring your class to visit? A digital tour gives students an engaging museum experience from the comfort of the classroom.

Free during 2024/25 academic year

We'd love for you visit us in person at the Museum but understand that this is not always possible. As an alternative, we offer live interactive digital tours to give your students an engaging museum experience from the comfort of the classroom. 

The tours take place on Teams for up to 60 students and we can tailor them to suit the topics or areas you wish to focus on.

What other schools have said:

"The children were hooked from the start and continued to enjoy the day as we went on. The museum tour was so informative and this was proven by the children's questions after.” Hollyhill Primary, Selston

“Thank you so much for this morning – it was so valuable. Lots of the students said that it has given them ideas that they wouldn’t have considered before.” Nottingham High School

Visiting your school

Our Museum Experts can visit your school to deliver engagement sessions on a range of topics.

£120 plus travel expenses, 10 bookings available each academic year

Key stage 1+2: Facilitators can run a carousel of hands on activity sessions including Victorian costumes, object handling and rag-rug making.

Key stage 3+4: Customised presentations on aspects of D.H. Lawrence which relate to topics covered in the classroom. Plus we have an archive of material from previous exhibitions which can be borrowed.

What other schools have said:

“Carolyn Melbourne, Museum and Collections Officer from the DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum came to talk to our Year 9 students about Lawrence as part of our ‘Festival of the Word.’  She particularly focused on his time at the High School and the Museum also kindly loaned us one of their exhibitions on Lawrence’s novel ‘The Rainbow’. Students were fascinated to learn that this novel was subject to an obscenity trial. The exhibition depicted the controversy surrounding this as a Twitter storm, re-imagining Lawrence’s comments as Tweets! Our students then contributed to the exhibition adding their views on censorship to a debate wall. The event was warmly received by the students.” Nottingham High School.

D.H. Lawrence Writing Competition: Children’s Prize

Engage your students in creative writing with prizes to be won in our annual writing competition

Free to enter, open to children aged up to 16

Each year, we mark World Book Day by opening our children’s writing competition for entries.

Children are asked to share their poems, short stories or piece of non-fiction on a specific theme, with prizes including Kindles and National Book Tokens for age 7 and under, age 8-11 and age 12-16.

Winners are invited to an awards ceremony at the Museum and have their work included as part of a public exhibition at the museum.

Find out more www.broxtowe.gov.uk/lawrencechildrensprize

Arts Award Discover

The museum is an accredited Arts Award Discover Centre.

From £7 per child

The museum offers a pathway for Arts Award Discover, which can be completed from the classroom. 

Arts Award Discover is the start of the Arts Award adventure. It takes children and young people on an artistic journey as they explore the arts all around them, investigate different art forms, research an artist, and then share their discoveries with others. 

As well as developing their knowledge and understanding of the arts, Arts Award Discover boosts children's creativity, curiosity, confidence and communication skills. We've made a short video so you can see for yourself. 

With live, interactive digital tours of the museum, where a guide can use the historic objects and setting to get children inspired, customised booklets with a range of suggested topics and activities and guidance and assessment for each child to achieve certification, get in touch with find out how we can support you.

Find out more about the Arts Award Discover at www.artsaward.org.uk/discover (Opens in a new window).

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss your requirements with us or to find out more, please get in touch with us.