Wakefield Museums and Castles: Loan Boxes

Our Loan Boxes have been developed in consultation with teachers in the Wakefield District and have been designed to complement and support classroom learning by providing a mix of real museum objects and useful support resources.

Why use a Loan Box?

We are all learners, whatever age we are, and we all have different learning styles. Some of your pupils will prefer to have the facts written down to read and consider, whilst others will prefer looking, thinking, questioning and discussing out loud. Whatever their learning styles, providing your pupils with the opportunity to handle real objects from the past will ignite a spark of wonder, awe and excitement!

Using our Loan Boxes will provide your pupils with access to museum objects that the general public ordinarily do not get to see or touch. Direct interaction with objects that people in their own locality once made, used, bought and/or treasured can provide a really powerful link to local heritage.

A young person handling an animal skeleton at Wakefield Museum

Our flight case sized Loan Boxes will contain 5 or more objects chosen to:

assist with pupils' enquiry and reasoning skills
prompt questioning and thinking
provide a tangible connection to a given time or times in the past
invite investigation and exploration of a topic or theme
stimulate cross curricular ideas for expansion activities

Supporting Resources

As well as objects chosen by our learning and curatorial staff, each Loan Box will contain:

teacher’s notes written by learning professionals - including object information and suggestions for using the box to support your lessons
handling guidelines and instructions
additional ideas for topic expansion and cross curricular activities
links to online resources where applicable i.e. short film clips of objects from the collections showing how they work

Loan Boxes available for 2023-24

Click here for the 2023-24 Loan Box Programme in PDF format (1 MB)

Click here for the 2023-24 Loan Box Programme in accessible Word format (2 MB)

Loan Box Charges

Loan Boxes are charged at £64 each for a loan period per half term. Payment is required before collection, with the school to be invoiced.

An additional charge will be applied to any lost, damaged or broken objects, to an amount of £20 per object.

Loan Boxes must be collected from and returned to: Wakefield Museum, Wakefield One, Burton Street, Wakefield, WF1 2EB OR Pontefract Museum, Salter Row, Pontefract, WF8 1BA

Additional Information

All teachers and/or school staff who will be using the Loan Boxes with their classes must engage in a mandatory CPD (continuing professional development) session hosted by museum staff to be delivered no more than 3 weeks before the loan period begins.

These CPD sessions will ensure that all school staff are familiar and comfortable with the proper procedures for managing the handling of objects within the classroom and incorporating handling objects into their educational programming. The CPD sessions can be delivered either in-school or online. The date and time for your CPD session will be agreed when you book your Loan Box(es).

How to Book

To book a Loan Box for your school, please email museumslearning@wakefield.gov.uk

Before contacting us to book your Loan Box, please consider:

Which box(es) you are interested in
Potential loan dates
Potential date for pre-loan CPD (must be completed before the start of the loan period)

We will need to know:

The number of pupils in your class
The age/ability of your pupils
Any additional needs or sensitivities of pupils in your class
The topics you are studying
Your preferred half term for loan
Any other requirements

Once you have booked, you will be sent the following documentation:

Booking form with confirmed Loan Box(es) duration and CPD requirement
Teacher's Pack(s) for your chosen Loan Box(es)
Any additional resources required for delivery

Pupils with SEND, additional needs and/or sensitivities

When planning your loan, please discuss your pupils' needs with our staff who will be happy to provide suggestions and guidance for making the Loan Box experience as rewarding as possible for your whole class.

Loan Boxes Cancellation Policy

Should there be a national or local lockdown enforced due to government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions we ask that Loan Boxes are returned to us immediately. Please contact us if you need to arrange a return before the end of your agreed booking. Schools will not be charged for the rescheduling or the cancellation of a booking in this situation. Where possible we will aim to reschedule your booking once restrictions are lifted. This will be dependent on other bookings and Loan Box availability.

If you need to cancel or rearrange for any other circumstances other than the above you must do so in writing as soon as possible. If you rearrange the date within 2 weeks of your loan or omit to cancel and do not collect the Loan Box(es) you will be charged the full booking fee and incur an additional charge of 50% of your booking. This stands for any agreed stands for any agreed booking, even if we have not received a signed booking confirmation form from you.