Education Workshops

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Sandford Award - The quality mark for heritage learning 2024-2029

Step back in time and discover Coventry’s intriguing history

St Mary’s Guildhall offers a variety of workshops aimed at a range of ages, designed to inspire historical inquiry, ignite imaginations, and engage learners. The Guildhall is based in the heart of Coventry’s medieval quarter, next to the Cathedral ruins and is an ideal place to host your school trip and learn about Coventry’s fascinating history.

Our workshops

Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for KS1/2
Price £7 per pupil

Join us at the Guildhall to learn about Coventry’s fascinating history. This workshop tells stories of the 700 years of the Guildhall’s history and how this relates to Coventry. Pupils will:

Discover the story of Lady Godiva, how this relates to the Guildhall and use historical evidence to draw conclusions about its truth.
Find out about important visitors to the hall from royals like King James I, to authors such as George Eliot. Pupils will design their own banqueting menu for these guests.
Learn about the textile trade in Coventry, from ribbons to wool and what happened when this trade began to decline. Pupils will have a go at ribbon weaving, wool carding and winding.

Curriculum links:

A study of an aspect or theme in British History that extends pupils chronological knowledge beyond 1066.
A local history study.

Download our educational visits school pack

How to book:

If you would like to book a workshop or tour at St Mary’s Guildhall, please fill out an enquiry form and someone from our Education Team will contact you to discuss further. Or send an enquiry email to education@noordinaryhospitality.com.

Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for KS2
Price: £7 per pupil

Learn about food, feasting and frivolities in the Tudor and Stuart era. Led by a facilitator, your group will learn about the preparations for the feast of King James I at the Guildhall in 1617. Pupils will:

Explore herbs in the medieval kitchen, to investigate origins and their societal importance.
Design their own banqueting menu.
Learn about how social class impacted the food you ate, how international trade during these times changed Britain and how kitchen roles have developed.
Investigate social etiquette at a banquet and learn a Tudor dance.
Discover the importance of heraldry by making your own coat of arms.

Curriculum links:

A study of an aspect or theme in British History that extends pupils chronological knowledge beyond 1066.
A local history study.

Download our educational visits school pack

How to book:

Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for KS2
£7 per pupil

This workshop investigates the life of a child in Victorian Coventry. Led by a facilitator, your group will learn about why the Guildhall opened as a soup kitchen in 1861 and how destitution effected the children of Coventry. This includes:

Exploring food and Victorian inventions in the medieval kitchen, discover how a soup kitchen worked.
Have a go at weaving, carding and winding wool.
Discover the lifestyle differences between rich and poor children.
Discover Victorians toys and compare them to the ones we have at home.
Make a Victorian toy from household items.
Investigate the wool industry in Coventry and how it made Coventry the city it is today.

Curriculum links:

A study of an aspect or theme in British History that extends pupils; chronological knowledge beyond 1066.
A local history study.

Download our educational visits school pack

How to book:

Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for KS4
£7 per pupil

Investigate the life of Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabethan everyday life, and the relation of St Mary’s Guildhall in the wider context of Elizabethan Coventry. Led by a facilitator, your group will debate where Mary was held, how trade changed England’s relationship with the world and explore Elizabeth and Mary’s dangerous relationship. This includes:

Explore herbs, spices, and trade in the medieval kitchen, investigate their origins and learn of their societal importance.
Tour the Guildhall, exploring the building’s development during Elizabethan times.
Investigate evidence of Mary Queen of Scot’s stay at the Guildhall and consider sources to debate where Mary was kept at the Guildhall.
Investigate the lives of Mary and Elizabeth.
An introduction to The Coventry Tapestry and Tudor symbolism.

Curriculum links:

A study of early modern history (1450-1750)
Understand the complexity of a society or historical situation and the interplay of different aspects within it.
Understand the unfolding narrative of substantial developments and issues associated with the period.

Download our educational visits school pack

How to book:

Duration: 1.5 hours
Recommended for KS1/2
Price per Pupil: £7

This workshop shares stories from Coventry’s and the Guildhall’s history.

Pupils will;

Discover the story of Lady Godiva
Learn how the story relates to the Guildhall and use historical evidence to draw conclusions about its truth
Find out how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources
Search for depictions of Lady Godiva throughout the Guildhall and discuss different art forms and their accuracy in depicting the story
Learn about the importance of symbolism and heraldry by designing their own coat of arms
Take part in a procession like those of old, which celebrated the story of Lady Godiva

Curriculum links;

A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils chronological knowledge
A local history study
A study of the life of a significant individual from the past

Download our educational visits school pack

How to book:

This workshop is also bookable as part of our joint offer with the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

Duration: 1.5 hours
Recommended for KS1/2
Price per Pupil: £7

Join us at the Guildhall to learn about Coventry’s fascinating history. Led by a facilitator, this workshop investigates the lives of children in Victorian Coventry. Your group will learn about how life was different depending on your place in society and why the Guildhall opened as a soup kitchen in 1861.

Pupils will;

Explore how a Victorian kitchen and household operated and discover the jobs children did to help run them.
Investigate the wool industry in Coventry, how it made Coventry the city it is today and how the collapse of the industry affected ordinary people
Learn how a soup kitchen worked
Experience life as a working Victorian child by having a go at carding, wool winding and weaving and find out how this work changed as the industry moved from the home into factories
Discover how life was different for rich and poor children and have a go at Victorian recycling by helping to make a rag rug

Curriculum links;

A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils chronological knowledge beyond 1066

A local history study Download our educational visits school pack

How to book:

This workshop is also bookable as part of our joint offer with the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

Education workshops at St Mary's Guildhall

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How to book

If you would like to book a workshop or tour at St Mary’s Guildhall, please fill out the enquiry form and one of our education team will get back to you.

Enquire Today

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A Journey Through Time Awaits!

KS1 & KS2 ignite their imaginations

Across the two venues experience two specially created workshops. Get hands on with history and discover more about the Anglo Saxons, including the legend of Lady Godiva, or find out about the highs and lows of Victorian Coventry.

Get in touch to plan your unique school trip: ctm.info@cvlife.co.uk | 02476 237521

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