Beaney Schools Project Slows Down The Pace

From January 2019, the Beaney in Canterbury will be offering schools and other educational groups exclusive access to the museum for a new learning workshop ‘Mindfulness Mondays’.

Over the last few years, the Beaney has become a leading museum in the area of health and wellbeing through a variety of projects, including Sensing Culture, Power of the Object, Art Therapy and Sounds Beaney.

Now, schools are being given the opportunity to enjoy the museum and its collections at a slower, more relaxing pace, while learning across several elements of the curriculum including literacy, numeracy, art, history and geography.

Feedback from trial sessions carried out in the last few weeks has been positive, with one teacher saying: “I didn’t know what to expect beforehand, but felt calm during sessions. It was good to see students away from phones and being calm and quiet”.

Chairman of the council’s Community Committee, Cllr Neil Baker, said: “Mindfulness and mental health and wellbeing are very topical at the moment, and we’re hearing a lot in particular about the pressure many young people are under.

“Museums offer a calming environment for learning, so this chance to explore the Beaney at a slower pace and engage with the collections in a more meaningful way could be of real benefit to local schools. We hope it will prove a great addition to the educational work we already do.”

The Beaney is closed to the public on Mondays, so schools that book onto the workshop have guaranteed use of the whole museum for themselves. For more information, go to thebeaney.co.uk/schools or email learning@canterbury.gov.uk.