Arresting solutions at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery

What did we do?

The project was inspired through a desire to create greater access and learning opportunities for the Derbyshire Police Collection. The collection had been transferred to Buxton Museum and Art Gallery in 2004 and since then a regular series of temporary touring exhibitions had been produced. Exhibitions had toured libraries in Derbyshire, finally resulting in a small permanent display area at the museum. Education work was always associated with the temporary exhibitions, but staff felt it was also important to create permanent learning resources linked to the National Curriculum.

The Citizenship curriculum was a natural fit for the police collection and resource boxes were created for Key Stage 3 students. Two similar boxes were created; some of the objects differ slightly but they all support the teachers’ booklet which accompanies the box. The boxes can be used in the museum in the classroom. 

With citizenship as their focus, the boxes use historic objects as inspiration to spark off debates and discussion on current issues. The teachers’ booklet provides a selection of activities, including some in themed sections, enabling teachers to pick and mix learning activities to match their students’ needs.

An innovative addition to the boxes has been a DVD, created in partnership with Derbyshire Constabulary. It features interviews with members of the constabulary, who discuss their job roles in a series of talking heads. A professional film company was commissioned to create the DVD, which focuses on five themes:

1. Roles and responsibilities
2. Public perceptions
3. Youth crime
4. The impact of crime
5. Police procedures and human rights

To facilitate the filming of the DVD, museum staff devised and asked the questions of members of the constabulary.

After the resource boxes were completed, Buxton Museum worked with local schools to pilot them. This involved a consultation session with local high school teachers and with Key Stage 3 teachers and students at Chapel-en-le-Frith High School and Lady Manor High School, Bakewell. Feedback from teachers and students proved useful; activity timings were adjusted and museum staff observed the different approaches to integrated citizenship teaching across the curriculum. 

The project was officially launched in autumn 2007, when the resource boxes were widely publicised and available to schools across Derbyshire for use in the museum and the classroom.

Learning oucomes

• The creation of learning resources to maximize use of the police collections at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery,
• The police collection has been used in a new way – its link with the citizenship curriculum has been addressed and object handling has been incorporated,
• The museum's relationship with Derbyshire Constabulary has continued to develop and improve,
• Staff have developed skills through working in schools which will impact on other projects they create,
• The museum has developed a partnership with local schools which is leading to increased involvement of teenagers in the learning resources available at museums and libraries,
• New perspectives on the Derbyshire Constabulary have been gained and articulated to young people.