Key Stage 3 workshops

$A group of secondary school students seated looking at a presentation at Pontefract Castle, one has their hand up$

Key Stage 3 workshops

Find out about our workshops for Key Stage 3 classes.

If you are planning a self-led visit to any of our sites, please book in advance by emailing us at museumslearning@wakefield.gov.uk to avoid clashes with other groups.

You can find full information on all workshops in our Secondary School programme:

$Ruins of one of the chapels at Pontefract Castle$

Ask an Expert: The Norman History of Pontefract Castle

This unique, multi-component learning package allows teachers to deliver the different elements at a time and on a schedule that best suits their classes.

The provision includes:

Exclusive access to a filmed tour of Pontefract Castle made specially for this session. This provides information about the site’s Saxon and Norman history. It introduces pupils to the key components of the Norman castle.
A loan box containing a variety of interactive learning resources and activity suggestions that can be used within the classroom. These work to engage pupils and support their comprehension in creative, interactive, and memorable ways.
A live virtual Q and A session with an expert member of Pontefract Castle’s staff.

Venue: Combined in-school and virtual elements

Duration: Film approximately 30 minutes long; Q and A approximately 30 minutes long; loan box activities variable depending on how you choose to use them.

A silver coin with image of Henry the Eighth

Pontefract Castle and the Pilgrimage of Grace

In this workshop pupils will explore some of the key motivating factors behind the Pilgrimage of Grace.

They will discover how Pontefract Castle featured in the movement.

They will take on the roles of either royalists or rebels and debate whether the uprising was justified or not.

This session includes a walking tour to familiarise pupils with the layout and history of Pontefract Castle.

Workshop includes:

Learning about history where it happened
Developing understanding and empathy
Engaging in discussion and debate

Venue: Pontefract Castle

Duration: 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on what best fits your timetable.

A school student wearing a second world war women's uniform and holding an object

Using objects to inspire: reports, poetry or short stories

In this interactive workshop pupils will handle and examine real historical objects from our collection.

They will learn some key facts about the artefacts and the time periods when they were made.

They will then begin work on creating factual reports, poems or short stories inspired by the historic objects.

You can choose objects from five different time periods to form the basis of the workshop.

Workshop includes:

Handling real historical objects
Learning facts about a chosen time period
Creating reports, poems or short stories inspired by historical objects

Venue: Castleford Museum, Pontefract Museum, Wakefield Museum or in school

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on what best fits your timetable.

A display case containing two mannequins wearing English Civil War era armour

The English Civil Wars: sieges in Pontefract

Using a diary account written by a soldier garrisoned in Pontefract Castle in 1642, pupils will be asked to think about the day-to-day life of people during the English Civil Wars.

Pupils will examine maps and plans of the time. They will use them to explore the Civil War history of the castle. There will also be the opportunity to handle artefacts from the Civil War era.

During this workshop pupils will get to go down into the castle’s dungeons to see and experience the place where Civil War soldiers were imprisoned almost 400 years ago.

Workshop includes:

Learning about history where it happened
Examining and interpreting historic objects and evidence
Developing empathy with people from the past

Venue: Pontefract Castle

Duration: 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on what best fits your timetable.

An old skeleton in an archaeological dig

Skeleton secrets: investigating ancient bones

This exciting workshop will transform your pupils into scientists!

Using replica human skeletons specially modified by experts at the University of Bradford, pupils will become familiar with the names of selected bones.

They will learn and apply techniques for identifying the age and sex of a person from their skeletal remains.

They will be taught how to examine skeletons for signs of disease and trauma.

Workshop includes:

Discovering what old bones can reveal about people of the past
Recognising that lifestyle and diet can leave characteristic marks upon bones
Working co-operatively to apply techniques and draw conclusions

Venue: Pontefract Castle

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on what best fits your timetable.

A teenager and adult looking in a display case containing a ballot box

Voting for change: Pontefract’s secret ballot

The first secret ballot vote for a Member of Parliament in Britain took place in Pontefract in 1872.

In this interactive workshop pupils will use both period texts and a modern comic book account to learn the story of Pontefract’s secret ballot.

Pupils will explore some of the key people and events involved in the historic election. They will consider why the introduction of the secret ballot was so important.

The workshop will conclude with a whole-class secret ballot vote.

Workshop includes:

Learning about a local event of national importance
Using period documents and modern sources to learn about the past
Exploring the legacy of this historic event

Venue: Pontefract Museum, Wakefield Museum or in school

Duration: 1 hour or 1 hour 30 minutes depending on what best fits your timetable.

An ancient Roman leather sandal on display at Castleford Museum

The Romans in Castleford

This multi-sensory session will begin with a set of activities designed to bring some of the sights, sounds and smells of Roman Castleford to life. Pupils will then have the exciting opportunity to handle and examine real Roman artefacts.

Pupils will be challenged to identify what the artefacts are and what information they reveal about the Roman settlement.

Pupils will complete artefact recording sheets for their favourite objects. They will use words, measurements and drawings to record their observations and conclusions.

Workshop includes:

Handling real Roman artefacts
Learning facts about how and why the Romans settled in Castleford
Making observations and drawing conclusions

Venue: Castleford Museum or in school

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on what best fits your timetable.

We also have two loan boxes available on the theme of ‘Roman Castleford’ that schools are able to borrow on a half-termly basis.

A pestle and mortar, herbs, medieval surgical implements and an open book

Medieval medicine

In this interactive session pupils will learn about different aspects of medieval medicine. These include the theory of the four humours and the roles played by different people.

Pupils will explore real recipes for medieval remedies. They will write some recipes of their own for imaginary medieval patients. They will mix medicinal concoctions using mortars, pestles and a variety of natural ingredients.

Workshop includes:

Understanding the theory of the four humours
Exploring medieval medicine through multi-sensory activities
Creating herbal remedies

Venue: Pontefract Castle, Wakefield Museum or in school

Duration: 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on what best fits your timetable.

This workshop is also suitable for Key Stage 4 pupils.

$Three actors dressed as characters from Richard II in a twentieth century performance at Pontefract Castle$

Shakespeare’s Richard II: fact or fiction?

Pontefract Castle was the setting for both the factual and fictional demise of King Richard II.

In ‘Richard II’, William Shakespeare writes a dramatic account of the deposed king’s miserable imprisonment and murderous death at the castle. But how much of what Shakespeare wrote is true?

In this workshop pupils will bring key excerpts from Shakespeare’s play to life through dramatic performance. They will discover that Shakespeare’s version of events was not entirely accurate. A walk around the castle site is also included in the session.

Workshop includes:

Learning about history where it happened
An introduction to a Shakespearean play
Developing drama and discussion skills

Venue: Pontefract Castle

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on what best fits your timetable.

This workshop is also suitable for Key Stage 4 pupils.

A wall and archway remains of Sandal Castle

Shakespeare and the Battle of Wakefield

The Battle of Wakefield took place near Sandal Castle in 1460. It was a key moment in the Wars of the Roses. Shakespeare wrote about the battle in his play ‘Henry VI, Part III’. But how accurate is Shakespeare’s version of events?

In this workshop pupils will explore excerpts from the play through dramatic readings. They will discover how much of what Shakespeare wrote was fact and how much was fiction.

When delivered at Wakefield Museum pupils will have the opportunity to view artefacts from Sandal Castle.

Workshop includes:

An introduction to a Shakespearean play
Using fictional writing to inspire an interest in an historic event
Developing theories and expressing ideas through drama and poetry

Venue: Wakefield Museum or in school

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on what best fits your timetable.

This workshop is also suitable for Key Stage 4 pupils.

Aerial photo of Wakefield from the twentieth century

Wakefield: an evolving city

Pupils will look at the landscape in and around Wakefield. They will develop an understanding of the role played by the geography of the area in attracting early settlement.

They will learn how the city grew and flourished in Tudor times thanks to the wool trade. They will discover the impact in the Victorian era of the Industrial Revolution.

Pupils will be challenged to consider how and why Wakefield has changed and evolved from Victorian times into the city that it is today. They will then imagine what the future evolution of the city might look like.

Workshop includes:

Identifying links between geography and historic settlement
Examining and interpreting historical objects and materials
Developing ideas and drawing conclusions

Venue: Wakefield Museum or in school

Duration: 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on what best fits your timetable.

This workshop is also suitable for Key Stage 4 pupils.

An atmospheric spooky view of the steps leading out of the dungeon

School dungeon tours

Through this immersive, multi-sensory experience pupils will discover when and how the underground rooms at Pontefract Castle were created. They will learn how their use changed over time, from medieval cellars to a Civil War prison.

Pupils will also learn about some of the key people and events involved in the castle’s history. This includes the founding of the castle by the Norman knight Ilbert de Lacy, to the growing and storage of liquorice in the 1700s.

Tour includes: