Monday 2 March – Wednesday 4 March 2026
We were delighted to welcome 148 Year 7 students from Tanfield School to The Story between Monday 2 – Wednesday 4 March as part of our Discover! Creative Careers month programme – made possible thanks to funding from The National Archives.
To celebrate careers week, the young people were given the opportunity to explore the exciting world of careers in Archives and Heritage. The day included interactive talks from conservation and the archives team, as well as a hands on workshop with our learning team and exhibitions officer. The sessions aim to spark inspiration for future pathways and careers in heritage.
The Discover! programme aims to inform and inspire young people about the wide range of careers within the creative and cultural industries – including archives – it was wonderful to see so many students engaging with the careers at The Story.
The mornings began welcoming the young people to The Story and sharing a short overview of the many things happening in the building; before the groups split in two to explore all that The Story has to offer.
As one group made their way to collections for an insight into the world of conservation and archives, including tools used by a conservator and examples of archives, set out by our archive team, for the children to touch, feel and explore. The other group made their way into the exhibition for a talk from The Story exhibitions officer teaching the young people the journey of an exhibition from concept, to design, to launch. The young people had the chance to explore the exhibition equipped with the knowledge of how the items were carefully selected and curated from the collections held at The Story. Once the young people had a grasp on The Story’s exhibition they joined our learning team and learning volunteers in the learning studio for an interactive workshop during which the young people explored real and replica artefacts from the first world war and curated their own exhibition and events programme, experiencing first hand what the role of a learning or engagement officer in a culture or heritage venue is like. We were very impressed by some of the imaginative ideas from creating a full scale trench dig in The Story grounds, welcoming early years children to learn about a Horse’s role in the First World War with real horses and hiring renactors alongside real life soldiers to share histories of soldiers with families. The creativity was incredible to see and we look forward to seeing how the young people channel this creativity in their future careers and pathways.
We have received positive feedback from pupils and staff at Tanfield School Special thanks go to Lindsey, Victoria, Susan and Emily, who delivered the workshops and shared their expertise in conservation, archives, exhibitions, and their own career journeys.
Thank you also to Wilf, Brian, John and Kirsty from our fantastic volunteer team for supporting delivery throughout the programme.
And a big thank you to Steph, Charlie, Facilities and the Front of House team, whose help with logistics – including moving groups across The Story and managing all those bags – was invaluable.
In truth, everyone working at The Story contributed to the success of these days, and your support, help, and at times patience were genuinely appreciated.
We’ve already received so many positive comments from the school, and we’ll share more soon – but suffice to say, the students had a brilliant time, and I personally really enjoyed being part of it.
One student from a Sunderland school said: “I did not realise what I could do in the army! I have loved seeing the radio and learning about the radio and the local history.”
The army was thrilled with the event, and another is in the works for next year!