Pre-School

Did you know that children start thinking about their aspirations at the age of 4? Our Pre-school workshops will bring STEM to life, giving families and children the opportunity to learn and play, exploring the world of engineering.

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Primary and Secondary Schools

The Common Room schools workshops are designed with the National Curriculum in mind. Our current workshops are:

'Northern Aspirations' - exploring the STEM skills of the region's greatest engineers and inviting students to solve real world problems using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

'What's Beneath Our Feet?' - using scientific skills to explore energy from coal, the layers underneath our feet, geology and the movement from fossil fuels into clean energy. Our linked video series is perfect for children to explore rocks and fossils from home.

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Male apprentice on the workshop floor

Apprentice Heritage Enrichment

The Common Room has developed an Apprentice Heritage Enrichment module which uses materials from our archive of industrial heritage, to enrich their current learning experience and instil pride in North East engineering. Through practical engineering challenges, apprentices will develop their engineering skills and gain an appreciation of the significance of our region's heritage.

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Photo of The Common Room Youth Board

Advisory Board

Our Advisory Board, who are aged between 20 and 30, bring expertise in fields ranging from digital construction to marketing and education. These board members play a crucial role in influencing the content and delivery of The Common Room's core programme. We will harness their passions, experiences and options to inform the future of The Common Room.

Meet the Advisory Board Enquire about Joining our Youth Board

"The workshops, which were delivered to Year 1-6 children, were brilliant as they introduced the children to the history of mining and they were cross curricular. They really enjoyed learning about mining and the engineers that helped to shape our world. The children were also given the opportunity to think about goals for the future, not only for themselves but for the world that they live in.”

Hannah Osueke, Science and STEAM Leader, Science Teacher of the Year Award Winner 2017-18

“Children of the Revolution uses the past to evoke inner entitlement in children that they are in a region that has (and still does) give birth to brilliant inventors and innovators"

Emma Garrick, Futures Consultancy

“Skills shortages are at a critical point for the region’s engineering sector. Working with The Common Room to delve deep into our industrial heritage through this bespoke engineering heritage enrichment module, we can instil pride in our young engineering apprentices and broaden their awareness of why the North East was and continues to be a centre of excellence in engineering.”

Paul Robson, Chairman NA College

Common questions

To book one of our workshops, or to find out more about them, please contact a member of the Programme and Engagement team.

Get in touch
Our Education Programme is fully funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund until 2022, meaning that we can currently provide workshops free of charge.

We can generally run workshops for groups and classes with a minimum of 10 children to a maximum of 35 children. However, if you have specific requirements please speak to a member of the Programme and Engagement team via the get in touch page.

Get in touch
On average, each workshop will run for 1 hour, or longer if they include meeting an engineer. However, we are happy to speak to you about how our workshops can be tailored to fit with your current timetable in advance of your booking.

The next phase of our development relies on securing further support from business, donors and the public. There are several ways you can support our capital and education programme to help us meet our £1m fundraising goal. Please visit our support us page for more information.

Support us
The Common Room are happy to discuss how we can support the needs of your company, organisation or school, including offering bespoke, tailored workshops on the themes of engineering heritage and STEM. Please do contact our Programme and Engagement team to find out more.

Get in touch

Get in touch with one of our team to find out more about our Education Programme.