I worked with York Museums Trust and Museum Development Yorkshire to create an online learning resource about prehistory in Yorkshire to support the National Curriculum in primary schools. Children following the National Curriculum at Key Stage 2 (aged 7 - 11) are required to learn about British history from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.  YMT's learning manager knew from conversations with primary teachers that they were struggling to find relevant resources to use in the classroom, particularly about prehistory in Yorkshire region, and secured funding from the Art Fund Treasure Plus scheme to create a resource that would fill this gap. 

I began by running a focus group with local primary teachers to explore how they were approaching prehistory in the classroom and what they would like to see in a new resource. We were really pleased to find that teachers were excited about the idea and had lots of useful, constructive comments for how we could make it work for them. 

We agreed to base the resources on 15 objects from collections at the Yorkshire Museum and partner museums across the region, chosen by specialist curators for their unique contribution to the region's story. We commissioned high quality photos and video, and I wrote teachers' notes, background notes and teaching ideas for each object designed for teachers to use in the classroom. The resources are avaialble via YMT's website. 

image: the Walkington Hoard of Iron Age gold staters from York Museums Trust.