Resources for schools

York Art Gallery

We have a number of downloadable resources and teachers’ packs connected to the works throughout the gallery. These downloadable resources are for groups planning a self-guided visit around the museum. Just click on the title and print out as many copies as you like to bring along.

‘Looking at Art’ Teacher Notes

Ideas for self-led visits based on the swatch card guide ‘Looking at Art.’ If you would like to borrow a class set of the guides please enquire on booking.

A Resource Pack for Secondary Schools

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words: Exploring Art, Expanding Literacy

Writing about art doesn’t have to be dry and stuffy. Art is all about creativity – so writing about art should be creative too. This resource pack will help you and your class to focus on one work of art and inspire your students to write creatively through a series of games and activities. They could write a poem, a story, a play, a radio drama – it’s up to them. And they may even want to perform it…

Based on a project inspired by Ron Mueck’s sculpture Youth 2009 and delivered by poet Antony Dunn to pupils from Joseph Rowntree School, York at York Art Gallery. Funded by the Max Reinhardt Literacy Awards (MRLA) in 2016/17. Click on the link above to access the resource.

MRLA is a programme conceived by the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust in memory of the publisher, Max Reinhardt. It has been developed with the support of Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, and the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) to enable galleries, art museums and visual arts venues to support a dedicated programme of creative writing and literacy work with schools. The Awards are funded by the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust, with additional support

Yorkshire Museum

From the earliest evidence of human activity in Yorkshire 500,000 years ago to the Roman invasion, this image-rich resource will help teachers bring prehistoric Yorkshire to life in the classroom. Can you work out who might have owned the earliest gold found in Yorkshire, who buried the weapons cache at South Cave just after the Roman invasion, or how a Bronze Age man buried in a tree trunk coffin died?

Teaching Prehistoric Yorkshire is completely free and includes:

High resolution images of the 15 objects
A short video introduction to each object focusing on enquiry questions
A short film of a curator talking about the object and why it’s important
Short animations showing how the objects might have been used
Comprehensive teachers’ notes on each object
Ideas for classroom enquiries and activities linked to the objects and time periods
Classroom activity sheets to download and print
Background notes for teachers on the main prehistoric time periods: the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age.

Teaching Prehistoric Yorkshire was supported by the Art Fund and created in partnership with Craven Museum and Art Gallery, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Malton Museum, Scarborough Museums Trust and Whitby Museum.

Click here to view Teaching Prehistoric Yorkshire.

York Castle Museum

These Walls

Based on a key story from These Walls , this KS3/KS4 lesson plan and supporting resources encourages students to take on roles in a courtroom case, arguing the two sides and reaching a verdict.

The lesson plan and resources could be used:

to increase awareness of the justice system (Citizenship)
allow students to participate in different roles in a formal debate (Spoken English)
in history lessons, drama lessons or group work

Download the lesson plan and supporting resources below: