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 £5 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 using a quill.
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 ribbons 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: £5 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.
Write your own banqueting menu with a quill.
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 and designing a crown.

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
£5 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.
Make a Victorian toy from household items.
Investigate the wool industry in Coventry and how it made Coventry the city it is today.
Discover Victorians toys and compare them to the ones we have at home.

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
£5 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 learn 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:

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

School bursary offer education workshops at St Mary's Guildhall

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Schools Access Fund

St Mary’s Guildhall offers a bursary for schools that meet the criteria. This bursary offers a £2 discount per child for a half a day workshop. The bursary is awarded to 8 classes a year but will not be awarded to the same class in consecutive years. To find out more about the bursury and how to apply please visit the Schools Access Fund page.

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