Press Releases

Energetic, enthusiastic and educational

National Museum Cardiff recognised for its outstanding contribution to heritage education

 ‘Gross,' ‘disgusting,' ‘amazing,' ‘wicked' and ‘weird' were some of the reactions from students to an archaeology workshop held at National Museum Cardiff recently. The staff's ability to engage with children is just one of the elements which led to the Museum being given the Sandford Award; which was presented to two representative members of the team at Hampton Court Palace yesterday (24 November 2008).

Presented by the Heritage Education Trust and valid for five years, the Sandford Award is an independently-judged benchmark for quality in heritage education. The awards, made annually are non-competitive and recognise the provision of quality education in and about historic sites across the UK.

National Museum Cardiff was praised for its creativity and excellent resources. Highlights of the Museum's exceptional education provision include workshops based on an extensive art and science collection, a new archaeology gallery Origins: In Search of Early Wales and an exploratory gallery, the Glanely gallery.

The Museum has inspired generations of visitors with an appreciation of Wales' art, science and archaeology collections for over 100 years. In 2007 alone, around 30,000 students enjoyed the educational offering at the Museum as Ceri Black, Head of Learning, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales explains:

"National Museum Cardiff is enjoyed by a large number of school pupils from across Wales. We are delighted to accept this prestigious award in recognition of our wide-ranging lifelong learning programme, which is an essential part of our offering and helps visitors make the most of their experience here."

Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales. These are St Fagans: National History Museum, National Museum Cardiff, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea and Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon.

Entry to each museum is free thanks to the Welsh Assembly Government and for more details, visit our website www.museumwales.ac.uk.

Ends

For further information, please contact Catrin Mears, Communications Officer, National Museum Wales on 029 2057 3185 or email catrin.mears@museumwales.ac.uk.

Notes to Editor:

• Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales is the leading provider for educational groups in Wales, hosting around 230,000 formal education visits a year.