Learning & Education
Our expert Learning and Education team have developed a learning programme to cater for all age groups and curriculum levels ranging from Early Years to Key Stage 4.
Our 2-hour school workshops feature exciting interactive learning activities based around Georgian history, William Beckford’s life, and this landmark building, guided by our Learning and Education team. Learning activities at Beckford’s Tower are tailored to support students‘ learning objectives in line with the national history and science curriculum.
Primary schools
Bring your class to Beckford’s Tower and learn about the man who built this Bath landmark.
Key stage one science workshop
We offer a KS1 workshop at Beckford’s Tower with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This workshop focuses on STEM and is called “Toppling Towers”, looking at structures of towers.
This can also be delivered in your school as an outreach session.
Key stage two history workshops
We are currently offering three KS2 workshops at Beckford’s Tower with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. All of our KS2 workshops last 2 hours and include a climb up the 154 steps of the Tower’s spiral staircase to admire the view, some object handling and the opportunity to discover more about the Tower with a learning trail to help pupils make the most of their visit.
Secondary schools
Bring your KS3 and GCSE students to Beckford’s Tower to enhance their understanding of the transatlantic slave trade and its role in the building of Bath. We offer workshops that transparently yet sensitively explore William Beckford’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and how proceeds from this were used to fund his building and collecting.
Further information and booking
Beckford’s Tower can only hold one school class at a time within the Tower building. If you have two classes that would like to visit at the same time, we can offer you a choice of two outdoor workshops to complement the visit.
If you would like to learn more about how we can support your school, feel free to get in touch with our Learning and Engagement Officer, Marie Brewer at [email protected].
All of our workshops come with up-to-date Risk Assessments. Please note that teachers and adult helpers are responsible for students’ behaviour and safety at all times. We will discuss all workshops in detail on booking and offer familiarisation visits for onsite sessions.
Outreach sessions and loan boxes
Don’t have the time to come to us? Why not let us bring the Beckford’s Tower experience straight into your classroom! There are two different ways that we can do this for you. A member of our learning team can come to your school and deliver our learning activities in person, or you can borrow a specially-made loan box for just £25. Please contact our learning team to find out more – call 01225 338727 or email [email protected].
Help with transport costs
We know that school budgets are under pressure. That’s why we’re members of the Hyundai Great British School Trip scheme which enables schools to apply for a bursary to fund visits and/or travel to Beckford’s Tower. Apply through the Great British School Trip website.
Indoor workshops
Toppling Towers – Focus on STEM (Science and Design Technology) (KS1&2)
This workshop can also be run as an outreach session in school.
Aim: To explore Beckford’s Tower considering how it was built and why.
Get ready to make a tower like Beckford’s Tower. Learn about structures of towers and put yours to the test.
Science – Working Scientifically:
- Pupils will be asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways
- Pupils will be using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
Design Technology – pupils should be taught:
- Pupils will build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable (KS1)
- Pupils will use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose (KS2)
Why is Beckford’s Tower in Bath? – Focus on History (KS2)
Aim: To investigate who William Beckford was and why he built the Tower.
Explore Beckford’s Tower and discover the life of the man who built the Tower. Discover why it is in Bath, what it was for, how it was paid for and what it tells is about William Beckford.
- Pupils will learn about significant people, places and events in their locality after 1066.
- Pupils will make a local history study
Identity Workshop – Focus on History, PHSE and Art (KS2)
This workshop can also be run as an outreach session in school (1hr session as outreach).
Aim: To gain confidence in themselves about their strengths and be proud of who they are.
Reflect on what it means to be you. Learn about William Beckford’s identify, including his collecting. Create your own treasure chest for your collection.
- Pupils will learn about significant people, places and events in their locality after 1066.
- Pupils will make a local history study
Outdoor workshops
Why is Beckford’s Tower in Bath? Views from Beckford’s Tower – Focus on Geography – Outdoor Workshop to be run in conjunction with an Indoor Workshop. (KS2)
Aim: Experience of fieldwork that deepens their understanding of geographical processes describe and understand key aspects of physical and human geography.
Come to Lansdown Cemetery and explore the view.
- Pupils will learn to use fieldwork to observe, record and present the human and physical features in the local area using sketching and observational skills.
Symbols in Lansdown Cemetery – Focus on RE and PHSE – Outdoor Workshop to be run in conjunction with an Indoor Workshop. (KS2)
Aim: To understand that messages can be communicated via symbols and that symbols are not the same as logos.
Come to Lansdown Cemetery and explore the cemetery.
- Pupils will understand that Christians use symbols to communicate meaning.
Other resources
KS3 Loan box – Beckford, Bath and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Georgian Bath was built largely using profits gained from the transatlantic slave trade, a part of the network of trade which existed between Britain, West Africa and the Caribbean between 1501 and 1866. William Beckford’s ability to build, and to collect, was made possible by the wealth he inherited and continued to accumulate as an owner of Jamaican sugar plantations and enslaved people, and through the compensation he received from the government following the abolition of slavery.
We believe that it is vital to share these awful histories to encourage discussion and debate, especially with children, whether in school or at home.
We can offer a specially made loan box available for hire in schools to support these conversations in your classroom. This box uses a combination of genuine and replica objects to handle, extensive teacher’s notes with information, and activity suggestions to help you make the most of the box.
“Pupils found it really useful as always to handle first-hand the ‘reality of History’ now and it really helped to bring things alive” Secondary School Teacher, 2024.
We have also compiled a list of our own resources from a previous exhibition about Bath and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, plus other links to useful resources, websites and literature from elsewhere.
If you would like to learn more about how we can support your school or suggest other resources to add to our list, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our Learning and Engagement Officer, Marie Brewer at [email protected].
Resources from our museums
- The history of the Beckford family is a tale of social ambition, political manoeuvrings and inexhaustible collecting all made possible by a huge family fortune built on the back of the transatlantic slave trade. Read more about it here – Beckford and the Slave Trade: The Legacy of the Beckford Family and the Slave Trade
- Elegance and pleasure in Georgian England owed much to the British slave trade. Read more about how this links to objects from our collections here – Elegance and Exploitation: Luxury Goods and the Slave Trade
- Watch ‘Civilisations Stories’ Episode 10 of 11: The Remains of Slavery – In this West Country addition of the BBC series, Bristol and Bath’s ties to the slave trade are explored, including a feature at Beckford’s Tower.
Resources from other museums
- Explore Britain’s ties to the transatlantic slave trade here – Liverpool Museums and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
- What was the transatlantic slave trade? Who benefited from it? What was Bristol’s involvement and what are its legacies today? Bristol Museums explore these questions and more here – Bristol and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
- The Understanding Slavery Initiative is a free online teaching resource produced by a partnership of six UK Museums to support the teaching and learning of transatlantic histories and legacies.
- Discover how the trade in enslaved Africans and sugar shaped London in the Museums of London’s ‘London, Sugar and Slavery’ Exhibition – Explore the exhibition online here
Teaching Slavery resources and literature from elsewhere
- Rebekah Gienapp discusses tips for when and how to have these conversations, approaches to avoid, and a list of recommended books to help you talk about slavery with young children – How should we talk with children about slavery?
- CBBC Newsround – Guide to slavery
- BBC Bitesize – the Triangular Slave Trade learning revision guide for Key Stage 3
- Parliament and the British Slave Trade 1600 – 1807 – this complex relationship is explored, with online access to all of the key documents in the archives including the 1807 Act and slave trade petitions. The learning section includes lesson plans and tools for creating interactive resources
- How did the Abolition Acts of 1807 and 1833 affect the slave trade? – A lesson pack to support teaching in school or at home designed for Key Stages 3 and 4 from the National Archives
Black History reading lists for children
- Best children’s books about black history – a run-down of some of the best books to introduce to children when supporting learning about Black History.
- Slavery, resistance and reparations – an extensive run-down of books recommended for the classroom and as background reading for parents and teachers on the history of slavery and resistance in the United States.
Higher and continuing education visits
At Beckford’s Tower we believe that learning never ends and we are proud to provide both formal and informal learning opportunities for adults of all ages.
We work closely with our local higher education partners, Bath Spa University and the University of Bath, to provide valuable hands-on learning experiences for undergraduate and postgraduate students across a range of subjects. Through such projects, or work placements, students gain skills, confidence and experience to support future career choices.
We have also hosted Open Palace Programme participants at our museums. This programme has been developed by a group of significant heritage and education organisations in the UK committed to providing a first class, first-hand experience of palaces and houses across the UK for international students and emergent professionals in the heritage field. We also support lifelong learning and regularly welcome visits from a variety of specialist interest and community groups. Please contact the Learning and Engagement Officer Marie Brewer on 01225 460 705, or via email on [email protected], for further information and to enquire about booking.