Local Projects

Our most popular requests are for sessions on local history projects.

We are happy to work with your group (year 4 and above) on their own local projects, and to support their learning with a wide range of relevant resources.

We also provide hands-on period or topic based sessions with original documents including

• Medieval, Tudors, Victorians, Wartime and Maps

Local study project sessions usually last between 1 and 2 hours.

Alternatively we can offer practical workshops in schools.

Workshops

Workshop 1 focuses on the Tudors and includes making replica seals of the Tudor monarchs and a Tudor horn book (a Tudor style copy writing book).

We have created a full set of Tudor seal moulds from which to cast plaster seals of the Tudor monarchs. Each seal has two sides. On one side the monarch is seated on their throne, and on the other side they are on horseback, either going into battle or riding in a stately manner.

Workshop 2 looks at paper-making and book-making and includes making hand-made paper and a hand-sewn illuminated manuscript. A display of materials and methods for creating and using different writing materials from papyrus to paper is also used.

Both workshops require access to water and sinks and can be messy. Teacher supervision required.

Workshops include an introduction to the Record Office and usually last about an hour but you can also choose to add other elements including

• Time in the shop area + 15 minutes
• A behind the scenes tour + approximately 30 minutes

If you do not see the subject you require, contact the Archive Education Officer to discuss your needs.

Pre-visits

To help make your visit as successful as possible we ask that all visits are preceded by a discussion between the teacher and the Archive Education Officer.

You are welcome to visit the archives in advance of your session to help you with your planning and risk assessment.

Pre-visits can be arranged after school hours (3pm- 5pm, Monday-Friday) or during school holidays (subject to availability). Please contact the Archive Education Officer to make an appointment.

Planning

School visits to the Record Office are currently free.

We can accommodate groups of up to 24 pupils/students.

Visits are most successful when you share your learning objectives with us beforehand.

Pupils must be supervised by their teachers and group leaders at all times while at the Archives.

To help protect our original documents we ask that only pencils are used when making notes

Education Room

Our comfortable education room on the first floor is especially designed for school visits and is a welcoming space in which to help your pupils engage with original documents and enjoy activities that will bring history to life. The room can seat up to 24 at tables.

Resources

We produce a wide range of classroom resources linked to the National Curriculum for history and geography, including study packs and videos – see online resources page and KS tabs.

Copying

Staff can normally photocopy flat Ordnance Survey maps in A3 or A4 sections for you but tithe and enclosure maps and awards cannot normally be photocopied because of their large size and fragility.

Pupils are welcome to make a tracing if they use a sheet of melinex, which we can supply, to protect the documents before tracing. Tracing paper is available at a small cost.

Photography

Teachers are allowed to take photographs of the visit itself (i.e. of pupils interacting with documents) but we make a charge for photographing documents (currently £12 per permit)

DVDs

School Life in film and photographs

Archive film footage and photographs portraying school life in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
£5 plus p&p.

What were seaside holidays like in the past?

A compilation of photographs of Victorian Bournemouth and Southsea, accompanied by archive film footage of these two south coast resorts in the 1930s, 50s and 60s.
£5 plus p&p.

Other resources

Studying Local History

A resource book on how to use original source material such as census returns, maps and parish records.
£5 plus p&p.

The Comical Hotch-Potch alphabet poster and flashcards

A colourful set of flashcards, complete with A3 full colour poster, showing figures making the letters of the alphabet. The cards are large format (15cm x 10.5cm) for ease of use, and the poster could easily be mounted in a frame for wall hanging or laminated in school.
£2.50 plus p&p.

DVDs

Shops and Shopping

A compilation of still and moving images showing how shops and shopping have changed over the last 100 years.
£5 plus p&p.

School Life in film and photographs

Archive film footage and photographs portraying school life in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.  
£5 plus p&p.

Canals, Roads and Railways

Archive and modern film footage showing the development of land transport in Hampshire since the 17th century.
£5 plus p&p.

The Home Front in Hampshire

Second World War experiences in sound, film and photographs.
£5 plus p&p.

Hampshire's Air and Sea Heritage

A compilation of still and moving images illustrating Hampshire's role in the developments of maritime and aviation technology.
£5 plus p&p.

A Face in the Crowd

This new double DVD looks at historic and community events across Hampshire 1900-1960.
£10 plus p&p.

Other resources

Studying Local History

A resource book on how to use original source material such as census returns, maps and parish records.
£5 plus p&p.

Diary of an Evacuee

This glossy facsimile document represents one of three small exercise books used by a young boy evacuated from Southampton to record his wartime adventures in the rural village of Penton Mewsey.
£2 plus p&p.

Invaders

Check out our Dragons and Beasts page to see examples of pagan symbols which appear in documents at the Record Office using our Online Resources.