Selly Manor Museum Birmingham

Selly Manor offers a wide range of educational packages to meet the different needs of different schools.

Our main packages that we offer are the Great Fire of London, which is most suitable for KS1, The Tudors which is most suitable for KS1 & KS2 and Bournville and George Cadbury which is most suitable for KS1, KS2 & KS3. We also offer an outreach programme.

Selly Manor Museum Birmingham
Museums West Midlands
Historical heritage West Midlands

We offer a hands-on approach to our educational visits which provide pupils with the opportunities to explore real artefacts and genuine medieval and Tudor buildings.

Our educational visits are tailored to the needs of the pupils. We also aim to include the pupils in all aspects of the day, such as through our storytelling sessions and the opportunities for dressing up.

We have three main educational packages that we offer.

Our Great Fire of London package incorporates a storytelling session, the opportunity to dress up, the opportunity to play traditional games and an interactive and hands on tour of the house. This Supports children’s understanding of the National History Curriculum

KS1-events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally.

Our Bournville/George Cadbury package incorporates a storytelling session, the opportunity to play traditional games and dress up, a tour around the village, an interactive hands-on tour of the house and a build your own village activity. This supports children’s understanding of the National History Curriculum

KS1-Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

KS2- a study of an aspect of history of a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is

significant in the locality

KS3- A local history study

Our Tudor package incorporates an interactive, hands on tour of the house and the opportunity to play traditional games and try on traditional costumes. This supports children’s understanding of the National History Curriculum

KS1- significant historical events, people and places in their own locality

KS2 – a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’

chronological knowledge beyond 1066, a study of history or a site from a period beyond 1066

We can however also adapt our sessions to meet the needs of the group.

We can accommodate up to three groups of thirty at one time.

We can accommodate all key stages and can adapt our sessions to meet the needs of the schools that visit us.

We have developed materials and resources which support our educational visits. School visitors will receive a resource pack on the day of their visit. We have also developed educational films which can be purchased to enhance learning. In addition to this we also have created a Bournville loan box that can be hired out to schools and other educational institutions, this includes hands on resources, lesson plans, knowledge organisers and presentations. These have been designed so that they link into the National Curriculum and are adapted to the different key stages.

More information on these materials and resources can be found by teachers by looking at our website.

We have no photography, filming or audio restrictions.

A comprehensive risk assessment is provided to schools that visit Selly Manor.

We also encourage schools to ensure that they have their own risk assessments in place, in line with their own schools protocol. All teachers are welcome to attend a pre-visit to Selly Manor Museum for free.

Our education officers are Mary Johns and Emma Lynch.

Bookings for our trips can be made via any of the members of our team by phoning our number which is 0121 472 0199 or emailing sellymanor@bvt.org.uk

The cost for our educational visits is £8 per pupil for a full day (10-2) and £5 per child for a half day 1(10-12 or 12-2). All accompanying adults are free.

There is no specific clothing required for the trip, but the house can be cold in the winter months, so we encourage visitors to wrap up warm.

We do have a first aid station on site and some of our staff are first aid trained, however we do ask that schools are responsible for any first aid that may be needed during the visit, where possible.

We have three male, three female and an accessible toilet on our site which includes a changing area.

Pupils can eat their packed lunch in our outdoor gardens on warmer days and in Minworth Greaves/Selly Manor on cooler days.

We have a shop on our site which pupils can purchase from during the day. We can also make up gift bags at set prices in advance which can also be purchased.

We strive to make our learning sessions as accessible as possible to all.

We encourage schools to get in touch with us if they have any pupils with specific needs so we can ensure that everyone can get the most out of their visit.  Below we have listed some of the ways that we can accommodate different needs, but please note this is not an exhaustive list.

Wheelchair users and people with limited mobility: Minworth Greaves and the ground floor of the Selly Manor building are accessible to wheelchair users and people with limited mobility. Unfortunately, due to the historic nature of the house, there is no lift access to the upstairs. If there are children within the group with limited mobility who can with support climb the stairs, we can ensure that there is extra seating available upstairs. If there are wheelchair users within your group, we have a range of different activities which they can take part in downstairs.

Blind and visually impaired: Please be aware that our buildings have low lighting.

D/deaf and Hard of Hearing: Many members of our team have received Deaf awareness training and some members are trained in the basics of British Sign Language.

Autism: Selly Manor Museum is an autism friendly venue. Team members have taken part in autism awareness training. We have quiet spaces available and different activities that can be completed. We have a box of fidget toys, communication cards available and a set of ear defenders available.

We are open for educational visits all year round Monday to Friday, between the hours of 10 and 5.

Our usual educational visits take place between 10-2, however we can be flexible to the needs of the school.

Our museum is open to the general public Tuesdays-Friday 10-5 throughout the year, and Tuesdays-Sunday during June, July and August. We are also open for occasional evenings and weekends throughout the year for special events.

“The experience was fantastic, the children were incredibly excited and enjoyed learning more about the Great fire of London! There were a lot of different activities for them to get involved in which was fantastic!”

“Our guide was very informative and knowledgeable. The children were engaged with their learning experience and very much enjoyed their time here.”

“Children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the trip was the perfect combination of interactive and educational.”

“This was an engaging session pitched at the perfect age for year 2. They were given lots of practical opportunities to explore.”

“A fantastic and informative day! My class have really enjoyed visiting Selly Manor. It really brought the Tudor times to life for them. Thank you very much!”