Vox pop | How has Covid-19 affected your relationship with schools?

“Schools remain reluctant to visit and are also reluctant for our staff to even enter their classrooms. Our online offer at HMS Unicorn now has to be tailored to be extremely attractive: with the flourishing of high-quality online resources available for free, it is difficult to convince schools to pay museums for similar. Our museum and local schools now have to work closely together to offer a session tailored to the school’s exact needs, as well as to minimise the impact of unexpected and last-minute cancellations.”

“Butser Ancient Farm has always welcomed schools to explore the ancient past. Closing our doors during the pandemic was so sad. Since reopening, we find schools are concerned that children need to catch up on lost learning experiences, so are grateful to be able to access our outdoor learning site. Schools are booking less far in advance, so they can keep an eye on the government’s changing guidance. The children are so engaged and there is an overwhelming sense of appreciation from all for learning outside the school environment.”

“We haven’t seen a significant change, especially now things are settling. Our experience has been that schools still prefer in-person visits, as before the pandemic, and we have found that schools value resuming their visits as an opportunity to get out of the classroom and learn in a different environment. Something that has changed is that we are considering how we can engage with schools from a wider geographical area, as most schools that visit us in person are local.”