Leicester Museums and Galleries

Our ambition is to engage with every primary aged school child in Leicester. To do this, we offer a varied menu of learning resources at our sites that support the curriculum across key stages in the classroom.

Further information

We offer our facilities and services to all schools and education providers in Leicester, Leicestershire and beyond.

Whether you are studying dinosaurs, ancient civilisations and Egyptian mummies, Victorian paintings and the arts and crafts movement, or steam-powered giant beam engines, Leicester Museums & Galleries have a host of resources available for you to use. Our friendly and knowledgeable team are here to help you plan your visit and access our online resources so that you get the right level of information for your learning stage.

We have lots of different ways for you to engage including inspirational Active Learning Sessions which focus on our permanent collections, and self-guided resources such as discussion cards, activity sheets and loans boxes. Discover Leicester Museums & Galleries and ensure an immersive learning experience for all.

If you are interested in making a booking or have any questions, please contact us.

Our museums

Leicester Museum and Art Gallery

Leicester Museum & Art Gallery displays diverse collections including fine art, Egyptology, natural science, and palaeontology.  It offers a temporary exhibitions programme featuring works from the collections, touring exhibitions (including from National Museums), and a programme of contemporary art and craft exhibitions. The art galleries include permanent displays of Picasso Ceramics: The Attenborough Collection and German Expressionist Art, a collection acclaimed as the finest of its kind in the UK.

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 workshops are offered on Life in Ancient Egypt, Dinosaurs and Art.

Leicester Guildhall

The Leicester Guildhall is one of the best-preserved timber framed halls in the country, with the earliest part dating from c1390.

The atmospheric Leicester Guildhall hosts an upper Key Stage 2/lower Key Stage 3 session where pupils can investigate crime and punishment through the ages and use historic evidence to put King Richard III on trial. 

Newarke Houses Museum and Gardens

Newarke Houses Museum & Gardens has collections of toys from the beginning of the 1500s to the present day, a thought-provoking regimental collection, and a recreated First World War trench. We also have a 1950s street scene with its shops and pub where you can hear the stories of people who call Leicester their home.

We offer a Key Stage 1 Active Learning Session on Toys and Games.

An activity pack is also available for Key Stage 3 and 4 teachers who wish to bring a secondary group for a self-led visit to the World War One galleries.

The historical walled garden is wonderful for a picnic during the summer months.

Abbey Pumping Station

Abbey Pumping Station was a hugely significant and important building to Leicester during Victorian times. It improved health and sanitation within the city, pumping sewage away from the city centre to treatment works. It's four massive beam engines, which dominate the decorative engine house, have been restored to their working condition.

Abbey Pumping Station has displays on industry, transport, health, and hygiene.

At Key Stage 2 the “Beaming with Health” active learning session explores disease and sanitation during Victorian times. Find out how the local area changed during the Industrial Revolution and how Abbey Pumping Station changed the life of Leicester’s residents.

The Victorian Washday workshop explores how people used to do the washing over one hundred years ago. Real objects and costumes are used to help pupils discover what life was like in Victorian times.

It is so important to introduce children to museums because museums open up a world of imagination and exploration. It is even more important to introduce children to museums at a young age because our youth is our future and museums broaden our knowledge of the world. - Sandra Hennings, Abbey Mead AcademyBenefits:

All of this is led by professional, qualified and experienced artists to help enhance and support your school's Includes curriculum.

• Active learning sessions with a facilitator (Key Stages 1 to 4+)
• Teacher-led resources
• Group tours
• Self-led educational visits
• On-gallery resources

Contact us:

Email: learning@leicester.gov.uk
Phone: 0116 225 4910