30 August 2012
9.30am - 3.30pm                 

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Bethesda Street 
Stoke-on-Trent 
ST1 3DW

Family Focus. Learn how museums and galleries can engage more with families and produce family-focused exhibitions. Find out how to excite families with your collections and get them talking about what they see.

The training day will include presentations from museum professionals and experienced practitioners in family learning and early years. A series of group surgeries will take place during the afternoon, giving delegates the chance to learn more from some of the speakers. Family Focus will offer practical tips and ideas around family-friendly museums that you can take back to your organisations and put into practice.

The speakers include

Jo Graham, Learning Unlimited
Family Learning in Museums
Drawing on recent experience of working with 8 museums in the East of England to increase their family friendliness, Jo Graham will talk about how families learn and how you can ensure that what you offer effectively supports that process. The session will look in detail at what characterises family learning in museums and how you can audit your current learning provision.

In the afternoon, Jo will be available to answer questions about how the family friendly auditing worked, the changes some of the projects made and to support participants in thinking about how families could actively engage with aspects of their collections.

Jenie Macindoe, Take Over Day Kids in Museums
Takeover Day in Museums - Giving young visitors a voice in your museum
Kids in Museums runs Takeover Day, an annual day on which young people are offered the unique experience of being in charge of a museum, gallery or historic home, working alongside staff and being given meaningful roles. This presentation will look at how working with children and young people in this way can bring huge benefits to museums, helping you to better understand young people's needs and interests, strengthen partnerships and create new ones.
In the afternoon surgery, using the takeover concept as a starting point, Jenie will explore ways of increasing visitor participation in your museum, particularly in relation to children and young people. There will be time for sharing ideas, brain-picking and troubleshooting, as well as looking at case studies from other museums.

Teresa Fox-Wells, Heritage & Learning Officer The Borough Museum & Art Gallery
Good things come in small packages!
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. Teresa’s presentation will be looking at the challenges and benefits of adopting a family friendly approach in a smaller museum.

Janet Cooper Early Language and Communication Programme Manager
Creating a space to Communicate
This presentation will give an overview of key features of communication friendly museums and ways to engage families with young children. It will share practical ideas to implement and good practice examples of working with parents, carers and families and how this practice can be transferred into the museum environment.  

Cathy Shingler, Interpretation Officer Stoke-on-Trent Museums. 
Catching them young
How can you make an exhibition appeal to young children without alienating adults? Last year our child-friendly fairy tales exhibition won a national award. Follow our hints and tips to see how we put together a successful family-friendly show.

In the afternoon you will be able to explore our current temporary family exhibition, Gods, Greeks and Gorgons with Cathy who is the Lead Officer for the exhibition. 

Amanda Heath Education Officer Stoke-on-Trent Museums 
Communication Friendly Museums 
Our museums provide spaces where families can develop their speech and language skills in a fun and inspiring way - we were the first museum to be recognised by Stoke Speaks Out for our work in this area. Find out how to make your collections appealing and engaging for even the youngest children and their families

Lisa Joyce Learning Assistant Stoke-on-Trent Museums
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery was shortlisted for the Kids in Museums Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award in 2010 and 2011. It was also longlisted for the Kids in Museum Telegraph Family Friendly Museum Award in 2012. Lisa will be available to answer questions during the afternoon and talk to delegates about how to produce award-winning family friendly trails and activities for your Museums

There is a charge of £30 per delegate
Lunch and refreshments will be included.

To book or for further information please contact Amanda Heath [log in to unmask]  tel:01782 232571
    

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