Information for schools

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and the Old Town Hall Museum welcome opportunities to work with schools and offer a variety of resources and activities designed to support the curriculum.

Both Museums are open for school visits and a variety of worksheets and quizzes are available on request.  The Old Town Hall Museum also has an audio tour available.

Historical resources include:

• Local History
  A number of packs containing local history material are available for loan.  These consist of laminated photocopies of old photographs, maps etc.  Subjects include: Alexandra Park, Broomgrove, Bohemia, Old Town, King's Road, St Leonards and Victorian Women of Hastings.
• School Loan Boxes
  The Museum has a number of loan boxes which link closely to KS1 and KS2.  Subjects include Victorian Toys and Games, Victorian chools, Victorian Domestic Life, Lighting, World War II, Medieval Hastings, Early Man, Geology and Fossils, Native Americans, Bandhani - Indian Textiles.
• Two Handling Boxes
  are available to use in the Old Town Hall Museum containing material on Hastings Fishing Industry and Victorian Domestic Life.

Loan boxes and packs are free to borrow but must be booked out, collected and returned.

Please telephone the Museum on 0845 274 1052 for details.

The Art Gallery

The temporary exhibitions programme mainly focuses on work by contemporary artists and has uses commissions to develop exhibitions that respond to the cultural diversity of the Museum collection and to wider social issues.  The exhibitions have proved a valuable resource for addressing many cross-curricular themes from KS1 to post-16.  It also provides an opportunity for children to experience work by international artists in their local gallery.

All exhibitions are supported by a background information sheet and free guided tours are available if booked in advance.

A Teachers' Resource Pack is available free of charge on request from the Museum.  Based on recent and forthcoming exhibitions, the pack contains colour illustrations, ideas for cross-curricular links, suggestions for activities and visits, plus information on useful web-sites and further reading.  The pack is suitable for both specialists and non-specialists and is invaluable for those who are less familiar with contemporary art.