Primary Schools

Over the last three years we’ve been visited by over 1,500 children in Primary Schools. We believe that the whole community should be able to enjoy Lauderdale House and the park.

Our primary programme connects children to their local area and heritage, giving them ownership of the space and also making history relatable. 

We work closely with local schools and have recently been visited by Laycock Primary School, Grafton Primary School and Netley Primary School.

'It was great that the children could start their topic with how the era relates to them and their local area.'

- Year 6 Teacher, St John's Upper Holloway Primary School

We offer a range of free, cross-curricular resources for primary schools.  We use our specialist knowledge, the fantastic spaces and the exciting heritage of Lauderdale House to help pupils learn about a range of topics.

We offer the following sessions (all KS2):

•    Heritage Art Trail around the House
•    Plants and Trees in Waterlow Park
•    The Victorians at Lauderdale House
•    The Tudors at Lauderdale House

We work with local teachers to ensure the sessions help schools deliver the national curriculum and meet the needs of diverse classes.  All our resources are based around stories so support literacy and can be used as a local history study.

'I learnt a lot... the backstories were very intense and amazing!'

- Year 6 Pupil, St Michael's CoE Primary School

Free resources can also be provided to complete before and after visiting.  There is also the option to visit the beautiful public park, Waterlow Park and to complete Arts Award Discover.

Since 2017 we have participated in Kids in Museums Takeover Day with St Michael’s School, Highgate.

Children at St Michael’s work hard to create a beautiful display to takeover Lauderdale House, previous themes have included the Unicef’s Rights of Children and Women in STEM.

The exhibition of children’s work is opened for the day and year 5 pupils takeover the roles of the Lauderdale House Team, becoming Marketing Assistants, Receptionists and Photographers.

The exhibition is then visited by all classes at St Michael’s, as well as family, friends and other visitors. 

It is a fantastic way for children to share their hard work with the community as well as find out about working in an arts and heritage organisation.

'I liked how it felt like a real job even though I am just a kid. I learnt all about twitter. It’s so cool!'

- Year 5 student, St Michael’s
 

We often work with primary schools to develop bespoke projects using the history and arts of Lauderdale House and Waterlow Park as a starting point. 

Recently we worked with St John’s Upper Holloway Primary School to develop Poetry in the Park. A project that encouraged children to look closely at the nature and heritage of the park then write a poem about it. They were illustrated by prints made by the children also inspired by the flowers and plants in the park, find out more about it and see some of their work in the Case Study.

We have also hosted exhibitions of Primary Schools artwork, including a photo project by year 3s Whitehall Park School.

If you’re a teacher with an idea for a project, please get in touch with our Education & Outreach Officer, Skanda Sabbagh.