Museums 'bring history alive'

David Blunkett at the British Museum

School trips to museums can help pupils develop a better understanding of history and bring the national curriculum to life, the Education Secretary David Blunkett said.

Opening a new education centre at the British Museum in London, Mr Blunkett said museums opened up access to education and made a valuable contribution to lifelong learning.

David Blunkett and his dog, Lucy, chat to young visitors to the museum

The Clore Centre in the museum's Great Court will enable the museum to develop its educational services and outreach programmes for children and adults.

The centre - funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation and the Heritage Lottery Fund - include two auditoriums, a foyer for conferences, seminar rooms, a studio for visiting artists to work with the public, an information technology room and exhibition space.

Special centre for youngsters

The development also houses the Ford Centre for Young Visitors, a dedicated facility for children of school age, with workshop activities, children's art exhibition areas, lockers, eating and teaching areas.

Children eat in comfort in the Ford Centre for Young Visitors

"Museums help us to learn about our past and can bring our culture to life for young people and adults," Mr Blunkett said when he officially opened the centre on Wednesday.

"Museums are valuable centres for stimulating learning and there are more than 80 million visits to museums in the UK every year. But I am keen to see more people - from young children to adults - making the most of museums.

"Education projects in museums are aimed at engaging the interest of young people and adults who might not realise how much museums have to offer them.

The facilities allow children to lock their coats and bags away

"The dedicated new facilities in the Clore Centre will help boost learning for generations of children and their families to come," he said.

A spokeswoman for the British Museum said the Clore Centre was a vast improvement, with five conference rooms and two lecture theatres replacing one rather old and shabby lecture hall.

Expansion of events

"We've been able to extend our programme of events - we can show films and hold conferences and seminars on top of all the other stuff we offer," the spokeswoman said.

"We hope people will stay here longer and learn more. Children can hang around for longer - before they may have come for half a day and now they can do a whole day.

The Clore Centre was officially opened by David Blunkett

"The new centre just makes visits to the museum a lot more organised," she said.

Her view was backed up by primary teacher John Lightle, who was visiting the museum with a party of 59 eight-year-old children.

"It's brilliant. We're separate from other schools and get our own lockers so the kids don't have to carry their stuff around," said Mr Lightle from Painters Ash Primary School in Northfleet, Kent.

"It's good for the children because their things are secure, they have somewhere to put their coats and all they have to worry about is their learning," he said.