Key Stage Two
We have an exciting range of interactive, curriculum linked workshops and tours available onsite, online and as outreach. Please see below for our current sessions.
Curating Charles Dickens
Onsite, Online and Outreach
Learn about the life of Charles Dickens and his family by exploring their home just as it was at the start of the Victorian period. In this session, pupils will learn to handle, identify and understand objects from the Museum’s collection, investigate what these objects can tell us about people’s lives during the past and consider for themselves how museums decide which objects to display to their visitors.
Curriculum Links:
KS2: History
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a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Victorian Britain)
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a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.
Imagine, Investigate, Invent!
New! Onsite, online and outreach
Join the education team as we explore the different inventions you might have found in Victorian homes, just like that of Charles Dickens. As we travel through the rooms of his house, we will imagine just what life was like in the 1830s and how keen people were to come up with labour-saving devices to make their lives easier. We will have a chance to examine some of the adverts for patented designs which featured in Dickens’ own publications, and get creative coming up with some new-fangled devices for our 21st century lives today!
Curriculum Links:
KS2: History
-
a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Victorian Britain)
-
a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.
Dickens through the lens
New! Onsite and online
When Charles Dickens was born, there were no such thing as photographs. By the time he became a young man and moved into the house that has now become the Dickens Museum however, ways of recording what people looked like had changed dramatically. For the very first time, ‘real life’ could be captured and sent all over the world, allowing people to see celebrities ‘in the flesh’, fleeting moments caught for ever, and the dead brought back to life.
In this session, we will examine a number of images of Dickens, and discover how even nearly 200 years ago, people were already keen to manipulate and control images to convey certain messages. We will also have a chance to see some of the photographs which have now been ‘colourised’ as part of our exhibition, ‘Technicolour Dickens’, which will let us see Dickens brought to life in a way that he has never been before.
Curriculum Links:
KS2: History
-
a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Victorian Britain)
-
a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.
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the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements, some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods
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events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
Virtual Explorer Tour
New! Online
Join us on a tour around the Charles Dickens Museum from the comfort of your own classroom! Let us show you the rooms Dickens and his family lived in, the objects that they used and fill you in on the background to his life and his work.
This one-hour tour can be booked alone, or could be added on to one of our virtual Dickensian London Walks delivered by a blue badge guide.
Discounts are available for Virtual Explorer Tours for multiple bookings from the same school.
Curriculum Links:
KS2: History
-
a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Victorian Britain)
-
a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.
A Christmas Carol: Creating Scrooge
New! Onsite and online
In this session, pupils investigate how Dickens’s celebrated and ever popular Christmas story has secured such an enduring place in our hearts, with adaptations on stage, screen and print.
Pupils look at the story and its impact on the Victorian Christmas and then go on to undertake a detailed and focused study of the language Dickens used to create the most memorable character in the story - Scrooge himself!
To round off the workshop, pupils ‘channel their own inner Dickens’, by either performing a dramatic presentation or by writing their own character creation, using real quill pens and ink!
Curriculum links:
KS2: English - Reading, Comprehension, Writing
Lower KS2:
Writing - Composition
- Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
English: Reading – Comprehension
- Drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence
- Identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning
Upper KS2:
Reading – Comprehension
- Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
Writing – Composition
- In writing narratives, considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed
Perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume, and movement so that meaning is clear.
Dickens Explorers
Onsite
Discover where Charles Dickens lived, wrote and entertained as you explore his Bloomsbury family home. Handle some of the objects from our collection and ‘channel your inner Dickens’ by writing your own character creation using real quill pens and ink!
Curriculum Links:
KS2: History
-
a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Victorian Britain)
-
a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.
Christmas Explorers
New! Onsite
Immerse yourself in a Victorian family Christmas! Explore the beautifully decorated Bloomsbury home of Charles Dickens, handle some of the objects from our collection and discover extracts from Dickens' most popular Christmas tale, A Christmas Carol. Then, for the icing on the Christmas cake, ‘channel your inner Dickens’ by writing with real quill pens and ink!
Curriculum Links:
KS2: History
-
a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Victorian Britain)
-
a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.
Tactile Explorers
Onsite
Designed for SEND students, this session explores the family home of Charles Dickens where he lived, wrote and entertained. Handle some of the objects from our collection, try some dressing up, and ‘channel your inner Dickens’ by writing with real quill pens and ink!
This sensory tour includes a variety of activities around the museum. Get in touch with us to discuss your students’ access needs and we will design an experience to suit your group.
Maximum of 15 students per session. All Tactile Explorers sessions will be charged at the off-peak rate.
Optional Extras
Informative and highly entertaining Dickens walk with expert Richard Jones; exploring London through Dickens’s eyes.
For more information click here.
Costs:
Onsite – 2 hours. All workshops are integrated into interactive guided tours of the historic house.
- Up to 10 students, Off-peak £100 (Jan-Oct), Peak £125 (Nov-Dec)
- Up to 20 students, Off-peak £150 (Jan-Oct), Peak £185 (Nov-Dec)
- Up to 30 students, Off-peak £200 (Jan-Oct), Peak £250 (Nov-Dec)
Online - 1 hour, one class, £120 (All year round)
Online - 1 hour, one homeschool household, £70 (All year round)
Outreach - 1 hour, one class, £150 (All year round)
Booking
Booking forms and enquiries should be sent to: education@dickensmuseum.com
Download onsite education visit booking form
Download onsite education visit terms and conditions
Download online education session booking form
Download online education session terms and conditions
We can accommodate a maximum of 30 students per booking slot. We have the capacity to run two half day sessions onsite each day from 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00-15:00. Please note that for the safety of your group we require a minimum adult-to-student ratio of 1:10 for each onsite booking.
Online and outreach sessions can be booked at times to suit you subject to availability.
Please be advised that full payment is required in order to confirm your booking.
Amendments and cancellations must be made at least 21 days prior to your visit, after which no refund will be available.