On Friday 22^nd November, a group of Year 9 pupils were invited to take part in Museum Takeover Day at the Museum of Cardiff.  Our day began by watching a video made by a local filmmaker about the Race Riots in Cardiff in 1919.  This was part of the People of Butetown exhibition and we were delighted to see some familiar faces from the community in the photography section.  Following this, we spent some time learning about how artefacts in the museum are conserved and we had a go at packing artefacts correctly for storage.  After lunch, pupils found out about the jobs done by museum staff and got involved by welcoming the general public on the door and working on the ‘Handling Desk’.  They learnt about artefacts such as a commemorative medal marking the opening of the Alexandra Dock, a Fire Watcher’s helmet from the Second World War and an early souvenir tea pot from Cardiff.  The pupils showed the public how to handle the artefacts safely and also answered questions about their history.  It was a fascinating day and the pupils enjoyed experiencing work in a museum.  Despite a few nerves, our pupils confidently engaged with museum visitors and we had lots of comments about how well they did.

Thank you to the Museum of Cardiff for a wonderful opportunity and experience for our pupils.