Learning with The Story
Bring the history of County Durham to life in the classroom.
Here at The Story, our five historic collections are brought together and form the basis for our unique and inspiring workshops.
Designed and delivered by our experienced team, our workshops cover topics across the National Curriculum and aim to help your class explore local and world history through our collections’ treasures.
Our offer
Accessibility is built into all our sessions, and our learning engagement team can always adapt our core workshops to best suit the needs of your class.
New CPD offer for 2026. Find out more about how to use an archive and research local history with the help of our Collections team.
Learning Portal
COMING SOON
Discover our collections with tailored resources designed to inspire learning; whether in the classroom, at The Story, or at home.
Workshops
Learn about the lives of six soldiers before and during the Great War using different types of sources, including census records, letters and real artefacts.
Significant People in County Durham: Tom Lamb
Explore local history through Tom Lamb, an artist and miner from Pelton who began work at 14 and sketched his working life in Craghead colliery.
Explore the meaning of Remembrance Day through the stories of six soldiers and civilians involved in UK conflicts over the past century.
Find out how the industries and lives of people in different villages in County Durham have changed over time using primary sources and interpretations.
What does learning with The Story look like?
Handling Collection
Make the past tangible for your students with our handling items gathered from all five of our collections. Hold a compass from the trenches of the First World War or buy your sugar with ration cards or even browse photo albums of Category D mining villages. Explore the lives and stories of County Durham with touch, sight and sound in your classroom or on site.
Exhibition and Temporary Exhibitions
Jump through time with our exhibition space exploring the different connecting themes in our collections.
Discover our Hidden Treasures, investigate Perceptions and Transformations, learn about how the communities of County Durham were Making Connections around the world as well Living Together through good times and bad, and how they were Making a Living in different industries across the county.
Through objects, interpretation, and interactive audio and visual activities – whet your class’s appetite for local history.
The Learning Studio
Join the team in our accessible Learning Studio space on your visit. A secure space equipped with space for bags and coats, a private toilet, moveable tables and a small kitchenette; we are ready for your visit (and your packed lunches). Get creative and draw on our wonderful Squiggle Glass wall or use our interactive touch screen display to share your work.
However you want to plan your visit, our state-of-the-art facilities are here to support you and your group.
If we don’t currently have what you’re looking for, please get in touch. We are happy to discuss your needs, including adding bespoke modules to your workshop.
Contact us by:
email: learning@thestorydurham.org
or phone: 0300 0268888