Third Thackray Museum Success in Sandford Awards

The Thackray Museum is delighted to announce that it has for the third time received the prestigious Sandford Award for Heritage Education, in recognition of quality in its educational programmes.

The Sandford Awards, presented by the Heritage Education Trust, acknowledge quality and excellence in the educational services at heritage sites, museums and collections. The Thackray Museum has this year been honoured, with the judging panel citing "a superb set of displays relating to personal health and well-being." Schools, the report continued, "can get something from the museum that is unique," and museum staff were commended for "knowing the excellence of their resource."

The panel found especially commendable that the museum is "willing to engage pupils with issues surrounding health in a context of citizenship," displaying "a real sense of the relevance that the museum can have to lives of children now." The site was also praised for having "begun to work with nearby schools in what is a deprived area of Leeds."

The museum’s Chief Executive, Almut Grüner, said of the award: “I am delighted that we have received the Sandford Award for the third time. This is a great encouragement for us to continue to provide high quality education services in schools, and to expand our offer even further. Medicine and healthcare are important to virtually everybody, and the Thackray Museum excels in turning both into exciting and fascinating subjects to explore. Our education team are always looking for new ways of working with young people of all ages, and the Sandford Award is a great reward for the fantastic work they do.”

The Thackray Museum, which welcomes 24,000 school visitors per year, offers a range of educational services and facilities for Key Stages 1-4, including workshops, internet resources, object-handling and discussion, teacher's resource packs and costumed interpretation. Workshops include ‘Victorians Alive’ for Key Stage 2, or the exciting ‘Microbes and Disease’ for secondary school pupils. Younger children can even meet our very own Florence Nightingale, and learn about her important work during the Crimean War! Recent comments from educational groups include, "Always a very enjoyable visit with very accommodating staff," and "Many students have commented that is it their best history visit! Thank you!"
 

For more information on the Thackray Museum, or to order one of our new educational brochures, please ring on 0113 244 4343 or email at info@thackraymuseum.org.