Beginnings
At Easter 2017 the idea of a National Education Museum was agreed by a small group of educators from the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers meeting at the last Conference of the NUT in Cardiff before its amalgamation with the ATL to form the National Education Union. The key aims were set:
• to inform, educate, enlighten and entertain the general public, including those pupils and students in education.
• to be an independent charity
• to have a museum housed in a building and fully resourced online
• to collect, store and display relevant materials such as general education artefacts, paintings, photographs, documents, banners, books, and pamphlets.
Autumn 2017: The first trustees were recruited, a constitution was drawn up and application made to the Charity Commission for Registered Charity status. Author and educator Gervase Phinn and Rebecca Oberg from Eureka Children’s museum spoke to a small but enthusiastic audience at a Conference in London in November. An artist was commissioned to design a logo. There was a good feeling that the project will succeed.
By Spring 2018 the National Education Museum had been registered as a charity in England and Wales. A bank account was opened and a website and email account established. The collection of artefacts, books, medals, furniture began with items released by the NUT/ATL amalgamation. Awareness raising stands were taken at the last ATL and NUT Spring conferences. The Trustees set to work preparing plans and raising funds
A year later in Summer 2019, the project featured again at the education union conferences and the Trustees began to explore the museum city of Portsmouth, home to the first Ragged School as a base for the museum. An open day was held for children and residents in Portsmouth. In September the trustees spend two days intensive planning assisted by a professional consultant. Then in Autumn, Trustees Hank and Jean Roberts begin a successful fund raising tour of England and Wales. The project begins recruiting Honorary Patrons – Baronesses Morris and Blower, Jim Al-Khalili and Gervase Phinn.
Winter and Spring 2020: A Founder Patron scheme was launched seeking £2500 donors and a target of £250,000 is set for a premises fund. Items of Victorian school furniture are purchased at a knock down price. But where to store them ? Space is rented in Portsmouth. Covid-19 strikes and meetings have to go online. Times were tough, but a lot of progress had been made.
By the summer of 2020 a range of operating protocols had been put in place. Over £40,000 had been raised. It had taken a while but the project was on its feet. Jean Roberts then began to send regular updates to supporters.
UPDATES
DECEMBER 2020: Despite the limits on activity imposed by the Covid pandemic, work continued with online meetings of trustees. Some of the first trustees had stepped down and had been replaced by new trustees including Stephen Morgan, the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South. A new website focused on raising the profile of the project had gone online. and social networking accounts opened. Fundraising meetings were restricted by the pandemic but fundraising activity was continuing with the launch of the Founder Patron scheme with promising results. Several artefacts and other items had been collected, catalogued and placed into storage. Financial recording and operating protocols were adopted and put into practice.
JANUARY 2021:Letters and flyers campaign part focused on Districts of the National Education Union resulted in funding of £80,000 through the Founder Patron scheme. Dr Catherine Carroll-Meehan, then Head of School of Education and Sociology at Portsmouth University had joined the Trustees. Trustee Andrew Dunkley had taken charge of the growing collection of artefacts and records. Supporters who had been sorting out their cupboards during Covid lockdown were given the opportunity to sell unwanted items through a Museum facility, proceeds to Museum funds.
SEPTEMBER 2021: Over £100,000 in the bank including a donation of £20,000 from the National Education Union. The Trustees were feeling increasingly confident as the project was growing in strength. Trustee Sheena Wright had begun looking out for premises in which to set up an office with storage space in Portsmouth. Redesigned leaflets and pamphlets were being prepared for printing. Supporters were offered help with staging small scale profile and fund raising events in their own areas. Every little helps.
DECEMBER 2021: Two brochures and a general leaflet had been updated and copies printed ready for distribution next year at conferences in Spring 2022. A profile raising social media campaign was being prepared and in Portsmouth, schools were being invited to take part in a Museum branded local project to describe their experience of Covid lockdowns. Trustee Amanda Martin had taken on the role of Director of a range of Portsmouth based profile and fund raising projects. Plans were beginning to be formulated for a reception at the House of Commons hosted by Trustee, Stephen Morgan M.P.
JUNE 2022 “An important celebration of the power education has to change lives” That was how Stephen Morgan, MP described the National Education Museum project to MPs, peers, journalists, leading figures in education and Founder Patrons at a milestone event for the Museum in the House of Commons on 8th June. In the words of one Founder Patron the event was “uplifting and inspirational and clearly indicates the need to establish the museum”. The event was given front page coverage in the subsequent issue of the Portsmouth News. Read the press release and visit The News Portsmouth online to read the story.
OCTOBER 2022: Over £160,000 in the bank. The House of Commons reception and the subsequent report in The Portsmouth News attracted several new and enthusiastic supporters offering donations, artefacts and ideas. The number of Founder Patrons reached 50, half the target of 100. The Groundlings Theatre in Portsmouth gave a brilliant history lesson, in period costume, about the establishment of the Old Beneficial School in the city. Links were established with the British Schools Museum in Hitchin and, most exciting of all, a dialogue has been opened with Portsmouth City Council about possible headquarters premises from which to develop the project further. Read the latest newsletter here.
JANUARY 2023: Planning for the year ahead with a continuing focus on fundraising for premises – an event with high profile speakers in June and spreading the word at summer festivals, in particular the Portsmouth “Victorious” festival in August normally attended by several thousand people. Also arranged to have a presence again at some of the education union conferences. Trustees Jean Roberts and Sheena Wright met key people in Portsmouth including Ken Dick and Kath Shakespeare, Librarians at the University of Portsmouth. They enthusiastically offered space for a summer exhibition and space in their archive facility for some of our donated documents including in particular the book collection of our late Honorary Patron Fred Jarvis.
MAY 2023: It was a busy spring. Working with the New Visions for Education Group, arrangements were made to host a lecture to be given by journalist and writer Melissa Benn and honouring our late Hon. Patron Fred Jarvis. The Museum was profiled again at the NEU Conference and for the first time also at the NASUWT Conference with stalls exhibiting a display of “education greats”. A free stall was offered to feature the Museum at the Portsmouth Victorious Festival along with a montage of photos for big screen advertising. Links were established with the Novium Museum in Chichester and colleagues there gave a lot of helpful advice, in particular about a bid for Heritage Lottery funding with which it is planned to mount an Oral Histories project. Trustee Jean Roberts was also warmly welcomed at Bedales, an independent school near Petersfield in Hampshire and a valuable connection with great promise was established with the UK History of Education Society. Supportive emails came pouring in with offers of treasured artefacts. Awareness of the Museum project is spreading widely.
AUGUST 2023: The Fred Jarvis Memorial Lecture 2023, co-sponsored with the New Visions for Education Group, proved to be a great success. Journalist, writer and education campaigner Melissa Benn delivered a brilliant, thought provoking lecture supported by a wealth of research and expert analysis. The YouTube video of Melissa’s speech can be accessed from the front page of this website. The Fred Jarvis Memorial Lecture will now be an annual event.
Plans for a stall at the “Victorious” festival in Portsmouth were well developed. The stall is being provided free of charge and a local supporter has produced a montage of photos for big screen advertising – again free of charge. The Museum was promoted on a stall at the Durham Miners Gala where £400 was raised for the Museum through sales of Hank Roberts’ autobiography. Donations of artefacts continued to flood in. Storage is an ongoing problem but objects and documents essential for our Museum exhibitions will not be turned down.
NOVEMBER 2023: Thanks to the National Education Union for space at its Headquarters enabling us to store an ever growing number of of artefacts and records – including in particular booklets about the teachers pension scheme from the 1970s and 80s and a bank of files covering the dissolution of the ILEA and the start of local management of schools, We are constantly searching for more storage space.
One email we have received recently was particularly touching. It came from the mother of 7 and 5 year old daughters who together “have been fantasising and planning a museum of learning for a while” The email continued with several ideas for the Museum and with thanks for our efforts.
We have added four new Founder Patrons and continue to raise funds through attendance at education related events such as the Burston School rally. Our stand at Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival was a great success in raising the Museum project’s profile in the city. We have also opened a very constructive and exciting dialogue with the History of Education Society. We will be working with the Society’s Secretary on the 2025 Fred Jarvis Memorial Lecture. We also continue to develop out Oral History Project for which we plan to open a new linked website to host the recordings.
We’re keeping our expenses low in order to maximise our funds to acquire premises, Please, if you can, help us meet those expenses with a Standing Order donation of just a few pounds a month and remember too that you can donate through easyfundraising. Click here to visit our page
March 2024: £200,000 raised despite all the problems charities have at the moment raising money. Good news too that as storage costs have been increasing, fortunately we will soon be able to move into a space in a supporter’s premises three times bigger than our current paid storage.
Our search for our own premises has also been intensified. A suitable property did briefly appear on the market but it went under offer to another buyer almost immediately. We have however taken this as good news that there are properties out there suitable for our immediate needs.
An encouraging initial response has been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund to our request for funding for an Oral History of Education project to run later in 2024. The project has endorsement from Stephen Morgan MP and the History of Education Society. Look out for more details soon.
We will also be taking our message to various education organisations, to the Victorious Festival in Portsmouth and at other events over this year. Do let us know if you would like a speaker at an event.
Please remember too that we take donations through ‘easyfundraising’ and other donation platforms, and a small but regular financial contribution helps to offset the costs of insurances, printing costs for updating pamphlets and flyers and other on-going expenses. Please get in touch for our bank details.
NOVEMBER 2024: Autumn 2024 has seen a very special donation to the NEM of a prestigious collection of the works of Harold Silver. Harold Silver who died aged 92 in 2021 was one of the 20th century’s leading writers and thinkers on the history of education and the role of education policy in social change. His two daughters have chosen the NEM to receive his extensive collection. An agreement has reached with the trustees of the British Schools Museum (BSM) in Hitchin for them to store and use the collection in the short term while the NEM searches for a suitable property.
This very welcome link with the BSM strengthens one of the NEM’s key aims to work alongside other Museums that have an education basis or displays. The NEM trustees will continue working with our BSM colleagues. NEM supporters will be alerted to their displays of the Silver legacy papers.
Foundation Patron donations of £2500 continue to flow in as funds get very close to the first target of a quarter of a million. All donations are welcomed. Just setting up a monthly SO for a small amount makes a huge difference as does the wide variety of artefact and book donations – such as one from Natasja a supporter in the Netherlands – a Bingley Tutor machine from E.J. Arnold & Son Ltd. helpfully accompanied by a weblink to explain its use.
The NEM’s presence on a stall at the Durham Miners Gala is now set to become an annual event as is a presence at Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival. At Victorious in 2024 good use was made of a Victorian bell and desk as part of a game on the NEM stall . Losing contestants were obliged to ring the bell in shame when they lost.
Following on from a planning day in October, 2025 should see the NEM building its profile with other events and networking opportunities themed on a streamlined slogan “To educate, enlighten and entertain – a museum for the 21st Century”
The search for initial premises meanwhile continues.
P.S. Remember ‘Easyfundraising’ the donating through buying platform. It’s very easy to set up and hundreds of pounds have been raised already.
MAY 2025: We have announced this year’s Fred Jarvis Memorial Lecture 2025 to be given by Professor Mick Waters who has recently published his biography on the life and legacy of Sir Tim Brighouse. Mick has chosen and the title of his lecture “A different future for schooling”.
The lecture is moving to London this year to take place on Saturday 21st June. And acknowledging the growth in popularity and prestige of the now ticketed event, it will be at Bush House on the Strand Campus of King’s College, London. We’re also welcoming to the event sponsorship from Crown House Publishing, the publishers of “Unfinished Business” and of Mick Waters 2021/22 collaboration with Tim Brighouse “About our Schools”.
We have been very saddened that one of our longest and most passionate supporters, Keith Gardiner, lost his fight with cancer. Keith as a Portsmouth resident gave his enthusiasm to all our events and had lots of great ideas for our development. Keith’s son Ollie has been key to enable us to get our annual stall at Portsmouth’s annual “Victorious and is a great help in many other ways.
The postcard we now use for publicity was Keith’s idea. He will be fondly remembered whenever we put this card to good use.
Flyers about the Museum and other literature was handed out at two education union conferences over the Easter holidays. At the National Education Union Conference in Harrogate we had a stall where the “Higher/Lower” game was very well received as was the offer of greetings cards donated by a supporter and sold at a very competitive price.
We do take every opportunity to raise funds. Some delightful tea cosies knitted for the event by our Chair, Anne Swift were snapped up by Conference delegates and they inspired one of the delegates, Helen Shreeve from the Isle of Wight, to knit and donate a mohair stole while she was listening to debates. This didn’t last long on the stall and added to our profit of over £350.
SEPTEMBER 2025: We’ve been busy. In June, Portsmouth Grammar School had a visit from Andrew Szydlo, a brilliant chemist who has lectured at the Royal Institution and travels around the country giving exciting and “explosive” talks to pupils of various ages. Andrew is a great supporter of the NEM project and he offered to donate his Portsmouth visit fee to the NEM. We are so grateful.
Hundreds of secondary aged pupils watched in awe as colours changed in jars, ping pong balls were shot out of tubes. And of course the explosions, ending with one so thunderous the whole audience was astounded.
Andrew’s event is not just exciting but a real learning experience. If anyone is interested in hosting his show, please do get in touch with Jean for more details. Andrew does get booked up quite quickly and he has only so many days he can fit these events in around his teaching commitment.
On 21st June an audience of over 40 leading educationalists managed to brave London’s sweltering heat to attend the NEM’s annual Fred Jarvis Memorial lecture. It was the ‘great success’ as so many of the attendees described it. The welcome given to Professor Mick Waters’ excellent lecture and the engagement shown with what he had to say, conquered even the heat. Copies of Mick’s book “Unfinished Business – the life and legacy of Sir Tim Brighouse” were included in the ticket price. We have a few left. Email Jean on nationaleducationmuseum@gmail.com for a copy at £15 plus postage.
Saturday 12th July we were represented at the Durham Miners Gala. Lots of good conversations and a profit was made on the NEM stall. We have also been planning the NEM hosted John Pounds event happening on October 25th at the Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth. For this event there will be an afternoon session from 2.00 till 4.40 for KS2 children, with four activities of about 25 minutes each. These activities will be led by two NEM trustees, Sheena Wright and Laura Watford.
Then in the evening an illustrated talk from local historian and publisher Matt Wingett ‘Recollections of John Pounds – the true story of the great educator’. Matt offers his account of the Portsmouth hero and inspiration of the ragged schools movement and how the myth of the man differs from the reality
And finally, just a hint of some very exciting news before the end of this year. There is over £300,000 in the bank and promised. We’ve been intensifying our search for our first premises for the Museum and maybe, just perhaps ….
Well, just let’s wait and see.
