Training Programme: April – July 2015

Museum Development East Midlands (MDEM) will be offering a range of training activities during the next three years of the programme. This document details the training that has been confirmed for the period April – July 2015. There will be further training events during these months and details will be circulated, included in the e-newsletter and promoted on the MDEM website. A number of the course leaders will be offering follow-up support by phone or email to delegates after the training event, providing advice on how to apply the principles they’ve learned in the context of their specific site.

Places on these training events are free to people working or volunteering in museums and heritage organisations across the East Midlands that are Accredited or working towards Accreditation. However, there will be a charge of £25 if delegates who have booked a place do not attend on the day and do not contact us in advance to cancel.

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided for delegates but we are unable to cover the cost of lunch. Please bring a packed lunch or purchase lunch from the café or Tea Room at the venue, where there is one.

If your organisation has difficultly covering delegate’s travel expenses, they can apply for a travel bursary from MDEM http://mdem.org.uk/

For further information and to book a place on any of the training events below, please contact Anita Hollinshead on 07876 166742 or anitahollinshead@hotmail.com.

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Word and Object; writing engaging text

Date: Thursday 16th April 2015 Time: 10am – 1pm

Venue: Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum, Iddesleigh Road, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, LN10 6SH

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

Trainer: Jim Grevatte, Independent Curator and Interpretive Consultant

A practical half-day session where participants will explore writing for successful museum communication at their organisation.

Topics covered will include: audience needs and preferences finding a voice for your project the role of the written word in the wider context of museum interpretation

Delegates will practice practical techniques and leave with ideas, plans and approaches touse in their own projects.

There will also be an opportunity to explore the interpretation at Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum which was redisplayed as part of an HLF-funded project in 2013.

The course is designed for both museum employees and volunteers who have a role in writing interpretive and promotional materials for their site. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience.

Jim will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

Collections Care Workshop and tour of the store at Creswell Crags

Date: Tuesday 28th April 2015 Time: 10am – 1pm

Venue: Creswell Crags, Crags Road, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 3LH

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

Trainer: Anita Hollinshead, Freelance Museums & Collections Consultant

This half-day course provides an introduction to collections care and will explain what we mean by ‘collections care’, why it is important and the roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers. It will also include an overview of the Museum Accreditation Scheme and other standards which inform how we care for collections in museums today.

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The course will provide an overview of The Museum Environment Housekeeping and cleaning Storage and display Handling, packing and moving of objects Emergency planning

& explain how these activities fit within a collections care programme.

The course is designed for both museum employees and volunteers who have a role in the care of the collections at their site. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience in collections care.

The morning will conclude with a comprehensive tour of the Creswell Crags collections store.

Anita will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

Developing SEN Resources for New Audiences at Mansfield Museum

Date: Thursday 30th April 2015 Time: 10am – 1pm

Venue: Mansfield Museum, Leeming Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG18 1NG

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided

Trainer: Kate Travers, Freelance Learning Consultant

This session will offer strategies and ideas for engaging children and adults with learning disabilities with your collections and/or site including examples of practical resources and activities. The session will demonstrate the SEN (special educational needs) resources that Kate has developed in partnership with Mansfield Museum and is a great opportunity to see these first hand and consider what you could develop at your own site to meet the needs of this audience.

The course is designed for both museum employees and museum volunteers who have a role in the learning, outreach and community engagement at their site. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience.

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Museum Volunteers: recruiting, managing, involving and retaining your volunteer workforce

Date: Thursday 30th April 2015 Time: 10am – 3pm

Venue: Kettering Museum & Art Gallery, Sheep Street, Kettering, Northants, NN16 0AN

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch.

Trainer: Heather Lomas, Heritage and Museums Consultant

This one-day course is an introduction to the issues surrounding volunteers and volunteering. It will consider why people volunteer and what motivates them, explore the benefits of volunteering, review best practice for recruiting and managing volunteers and how to implement it. There will be a focus on creating effective roles for volunteers and participants will begin to develop an action plan for their site.

The course is designed for both museum employees and volunteers who have a role in the recruitment and management of volunteers at their site.

Heather will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

Lighting a Spark: creating engaging exhibitions

Date: Monday 11th May 2015 Time: 10am-3pm

Venue: Grantham Museum, St Peter’s Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6PY

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch.

Trainer: Jim Grevatte, Independent Curator and Interpretive Consultant

A day to explore the principles and practice of creating successful museum displays. Delegates will use their own projects to discuss how to imagine, plan, and deliver engaging museum interpretation. Participants will also practice practical techniques and will leave with ideas, plans and approaches to use in their own exhibitions.

There will be an opportunity to look around Grantham Museum which re-opened to the public in February after a programme of improvements and new displays.

The course is designed for both museum employees and volunteers who have a role in writing interpretive and promotional materials for their site. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience.

Jim will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

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Working with the revised National Curriculum

Date: Friday 15th May 2015 Time: 10am – 3pm

Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1RE

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch or purchase lunch in the on-site café.

Trainer: Davey Ivens, Freelance Learning Consultant

This will be a practical day exploring how to develop learning programmes and resources to support the revised National Curriculum.

The day will begin with an introduction to the changes to the National Curriculum, their potential impact on learning programmes and the opportunities that these present to museums and heritage organisations.

Delegates will be encouraged to bring some of their existing learning resources and the group will work together to consider how these can be repurposed to meet the new curriculum requirements. It will be a day of practical collaboration and sharing of ideas. Davey will also provide some sample learning resources for delegates unable to bring their own.

The course is suitable for museum employees and volunteers with a responsibility for learning and educational visits. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience.

Davey will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

Numbering, Labelling and Marking Objects

Date: Wednesday 20th May 2015 Time: 10.30am – 3.00pm

Venue: Alford Manor House, West Street, Alford, Lincolnshire, LN13 9HT.

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch or purchase lunch in the Manor House Tea Room.

Trainer: Heather Lomas, Heritage and Museums Consultant

This course will provide participants with practical advice on museum numbering systems and the labelling and marking of museum objects. The course is set in the wider context of museum documentation and national standards; SPECTRUM and Museum Accreditation.

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The course will also provide a basic underpinning of knowledge and best practice for numbering systems and formats and labelling and marking objects. It will also provide a practical session for participants to gain experience of labelling and marking a range of objects and materials.

Topics covered include: Documentation standards Museum numbering systems How to deal with problem numbering systems How and where to label and mark Materials requires for labelling and marking Health and Safety Sources of help and advice

This course is particularly suitable for museum employees and volunteers who have a role in labelling and marking collections. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience.

Heather will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

How to care for….Textiles

Date: Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Time: 10am – 3pm

Venue: Hardwick Hall, Doe Lea, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S44 5QJ

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please purchase lunch in the on-site restaurant or bring a packed lunch with you.

Trainer: Michelle Harper, Textile Conservator

This one day course will include short talks, discussion and practical work. Delegates will learn how to handle, clean and pack a variety of textile objects, including costume and hangings. The day will also include practical demonstrations of how to make a padded hanger and a square case cover. There will be an opportunity to explore some of the wonderful textile collections at Hardwick Hall and learn about how they are being conserved and cared for.

The course is designed for both museum employees and volunteers who have a role in caring for textile collections at their site. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience.

Michelle will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

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Collections Review and Rationalisation

Date: Wednesday 24th June 2015 Time: 10.15-3.30pm

Venue: New Walk Museum, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch or purchase lunch in the museum café.

Trainer: Emma Chaplin, Heritage and Museums Consultant

The day is aimed at people responsible for managing collections who are considering how to embark on collections review and rationalisation work. There will be practical exercises and case studies to enable participants to begin to plan their own projects. It will help museums looking to implement ‘themes and priorities for rationalisation and disposal’ as part of their Collections Development Policy.

The day will aim to: Give participants an understanding of the context, standards and guidance around

collections development issues, embodied in PAS 197 and reflected in Accreditation 2011.

Raise awareness of and explore the practical tools and guidance that are available to help plan and execute review and rationalisation work.

Give participants the opportunity to share and discuss ideas and concerns about review and rationalisation work in their own museums.

Leave participants feeling equipped to embark on new review and rationalisation work initiatives in their own museums.

Emma will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

SAFE: Safer recruitment, safeguarding and changes to the Disclosure and Barring System (formerly CRB)

Date: Friday 26th June 2015 Time: 10am – 1pm

Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1RE

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

Trainers: Davey Ivens, Freelance Consultant and Esther Chamberlain, Children, Young People & Families Workforce Team Manager for Voluntary Action Leicestershire.

The session will explore how to undertake safer recruitment and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in voluntary organisations. There will also be an update on recent changes to the CRB/DBS system. This will be an informal and friendly morning which includes a question and answer session so that delegates can discuss specific issues at their own organisations if they wish to. Davey will introduce the session, placing safer recruitment into a heritage context and signposting delegates to relevant sector resources. Esther will explain the relevant legislation and what this means in practical terms.

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The course is suitable for museum volunteers with a responsibility for learning and educational visits as well as Trustees with an organisational remit and anyone concerned about their organisation’s responsibilities in this area.

Davey will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

Volunteering and the Law

Date: Friday 3rd July 2015 Time: 10am – 1pm

Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1RE

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

Trainers: Jim McCallum, Volunteering Manager, Voluntary Action Rutland

If you use volunteers it is important that you stay within the law. This not only means keeping your volunteers safe from harm but ensuring that your organisation recognises the unique status of volunteering. What is the difference, for example, between volunteering and work experience or placement? What are your obligations as a manager of volunteers? As part of this workshop you will complete an assessment of your own practice to ensure that it meets the legal requirements and discuss any changes you might need to make to bring your organisation in line.

The course provides advice on good practice when managing volunteers and links to current advice to support you, your organisation and your volunteers.

This training will: Explain the key legal difficulties organisations using volunteers can face. Provide a checklist of methods to avoid legal difficulties. Give up to date information on volunteering law.

There will be case studies that demonstrate how organisations can get into ‘hot water’ in relation to:

Health and safety Employment Equality and diversity Criminal records checks

The course is suitable for Trustees or staff with a responsibility for managing volunteers, for volunteers who wish to know what their legal rights are or anyone wishing to develop their skills around the law in relation to volunteering.

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Documentation Essentials

Date: Tuesday 7th July 2015 Time: 10am – 3.30pm

Venue: Kelmarsh Hall, Harborough Road, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire, NN6 9LY

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch or purchase lunch in the Kelmarsh Hall Tea Room.

Trainer: Heather Lomas, Heritage and Museums Consultant

The course provides an introduction to the basic principles of museum documentation and explains the benefits of good documentation practice.

Topics covered will include: The Museum Accreditation Scheme SPECTRUM Documentation procedures for object entry, accessioning, marking and labelling,

cataloguing and indexing, location and movement control, object exit, loans and retrospective documentation.

The course is designed for both museum employees and museum volunteers who have a role in the care and documentation of the collections at their site. It is suitable for those who are completely new to museum work as well as those with some experience who are:

Setting up a documentation system in their museum Starting to work with an unfamiliar documentation system Improving an existing documentation system Refreshing their knowledge about documentation principles

The course will be led by Heather Lomas on behalf of the Collections Management Network and consist of a mixture of presentations, practical activities, informal discussions and one-to-one consultancy. All course participants will receive a pack of information to take away at the end of the day.

Heather will provide follow-up support to delegates by phone or email after the training event.

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