Introduction

In February (2012) Michael Gove announced that he was awarding English Heritage £2.7m to encourage children to explore local heritage sites. Who could disagree with his view that ‘local historic environments can be used to inspire pupils by bringing history alive'? However, why stop there? Any visit to a historical site, museum or gallery, whether local or national, can add real value to children's understanding of the past and fire their curiosity and imagination.

Why visit museums, galleries and sites?

Visits to museums, galleries and historic sites have long been an important aspect of primary school education. They introduce children to a range of historical sources, they broaden their cultural experience and they are able to engage with the different ways that the past is represented and even reconstructed. With the latter...