Loan box hire

Audience: KS1 - KS4

This beautiful Faces and Places resource box contains portraits of inspirational people connected to the local borough, cross-curricular group activities, and tools to create exhibitions. Suitable for all key stages, teachers and pupils are invited to use the adaptable resources to develop creative skills around visual literacy, local history research and portrait making.

The people featured in the loans resource are:

• Rachel Yankey
• Mary Seacole
• Riz Ahmed
• Jayaben Desai
• Lenny Henry
• Janet Kay
• Courtney Pine
• Zadie Smith
• George Michael
• Ian Wright.

Faces and Places - National Portrait Gallery is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund.

Audience: KS2

The aim of this loans box is to help children develop their knowledge and understanding of the history and experiences of Gujaratis migrating to Britain and particularly Brent.

This loans box was created by Subrang Arts and includes:

• 31 pairs of Dandiya dancing sticks and a link to a video to learn a dance using them; female and male dance costumes; male dancer’s cap and saris to try on; hand clappers and metal cymbals to play; traditional embroidered wall hanging to handle and rolling pin and board to role play making chapatis.
• Photos of a Gujarati wedding; a convenience store owned by a Gujarati person, four shops on Ealing Road, Neasden Temple and Wembley Central Mosque.
• Pictures of alphabets used by Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat to compare.
• 14 religious items relating to Hinduism and Islam to handle including a Kankavati, Arti thali and Purna-Kalasha used during Hindu ceremonies and a Sajjadat Salat, Tasbih and Qibla used during prayers by Muslims.

The learning resource in the loans box includes a reading comprehension about how and why Gujaratis migrated from Gujarat and a link to, and a transcript of an oral history interview with a person who migrated to Britain in the 1970s and four profiles of key members of the Gujarati community in Brent.

Learning resources

• Roots and changes - Gujarati influences  

Audience: KS1 and KS2

This loans box contains a replica Mary Seacole jacket to try on, a copy of Mary Seacole's book 'The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands' and a PowerPoint with audio clips on each slide to guide your class through a lesson learning about Mary Seacole and exploring ideas of 'home' and 'cultural identity'.

To see how Byron Court Primary used the Homes from Brent’s Past loans box to learn about Mary Seacole and explore what home means to them, watch 'Mary Seacole: Coming Home' video. 

Audience: KS1 and KS2

Students learn about changes in Sudbury from 1950s-1980s using interviews from local residents.  The suitcase comes with objects, photos and a range of resources to help you deliver activities at your school exploring changes in toys, leisure, home life and how the area has changed.  This loans box would also be of interest to teachers in other parts of the borough. 

Learning resources

• Sudbury – Then and Now (.pdf, 8.67MB)
• Then and Now Sudbury 50s to 80s Education Pack (part one)
• Then and Now Sudbury 50s to 80s Education Pack (part two)
• Then and Now Sudbury 50s to 80s Education Pack (part three)

Audience: EYFS/KS1/KS2

Learning questions explored in the loans box: How and why do Hindus celebrate Diwali?  How and why is Hanukkah celebrated?  How is Christmas celebrated?

This loans box specifically supports the new Brent RE Syllabus, 2020 approved in 2022 and was devised in collaboration with RE advisors, local faith organisations and schools.

The learning questions are explored using:

• an extensive and clear learning resource for teacher guidance;
• objects to handle and explore; and
• transcripts of interviews with local people of faith answering questions relating to the topic of religious celebrations

Audience: KS1/KS2

Learning Questions explored in this loans box: Why do we use lights and candles on special occasions?  What might the candles on Shabbat mean?  Why are flames used in worship in Hinduism?  Why is Jesus is referred to as the Light of the World by Christians? 

This loans box specifically supports the new Brent RE Syllabus, 2020 approved in 2022 and was devised in collaboration with RE advisors, local faith organisations and schools.

The learning questions are explored using:

• an extensive and clear learning resource for teacher guidance;
• objects to handle and explore; and
• transcripts of interviews with local people of faith answering questions relating to the topic of light.

Audience: KS1/KS2

Learning Questions explored in this loans box: Why do some Christians wear a cross or a crucifix?  Can our clothing change our behaviour?  Why are some clothes/items worn more important than others?

This loans box specifically supports the new Brent RE Syllabus, 2020 approved in 2022 and was devised in collaboration with RE advisors, local faith organisations and schools.

The learning questions are explored using:

• an extensive and clear learning resource for teacher guidance;
• objects to handle and explore; and
• transcripts of interviews with local people of faith answering questions relating to the topic of religious clothing.

Audience: KS1/KS2

Learning Questions explored in this loans box: What makes a building/place holy?  How does the gurdwara show what is important to Sikhs? Why is the synagogue so important in Judaism?  What makes a mandir so special?

This loans box specifically supports the new Brent RE Syllabus, 2020 approved in 2022 and was devised in collaboration with RE advisors, local faith organisations and schools.

The learning questions are explored using:

• an extensive and clear learning resource for teacher guidance;
• objects to handle and explore; and
• transcripts of interviews with local people of faith answering questions relating to the topic of worship.

Audience: KS2

Learning Questions explored in the loans box: What do we mean by the word ‘evil’?  What does ‘evil’ look like?  Can we have good or bad without the other?

This loans box specifically supports the new Brent RE Syllabus, 2020 approved in 2022 and was devised in collaboration with RE advisors, local faith organisations and schools.

The learning questions are explored using:

• an extensive and clear learning resource for teacher guidance;
• objects to handle and explore; and
• transcripts of interviews with local people of faith answering questions relating to the topic of good and evil.

Audience: KS1/KS2

Learning Questions explored in this loans box: Why is food an important part of certain festivals/celebrations?  How can food show us beliefs about God? How can food show commitment to God?

This loans box specifically supports the new Brent RE Syllabus, 2020 approved in 2022 and was devised in collaboration with RE advisors, local faith organisations and schools.

The learning questions are explored using:

• an extensive and clear learning resource for teacher guidance;
• objects to handle and explore; and
• transcripts of interviews with local people of faith answering questions relating to the topic of food.

Linked workshop offer

Either before or after your loans box hire, you are encouraged to book the Interfaith encounter workshops (Audience: Years 5-9) at your school with the Faith & Belief Forum. During the hour long workshop, the students hear from and ask questions to speakers from different faiths and beliefs, which can support their learning in RE/PSHE/RSE/citizenship alongside the Faith & Belief Forum’s, free of charge, KS2 & KS3 Skills For Dialogue Online Resources packages.  

• Book workshop
• Make an enquiry 

Audience: KS1
Ideal for: history, literacy

This hands-on and fun resource enables children to dress up in items connected to Wembley Stadium, explore maps and photos, as well as handle objects as a way to explore local and national changes within living memory and significant events and people.

Children will:

• learn about key moments and people connected to Wembley Stadium over the last 130 years.
• describe how the site changed from a landscaped pleasure park to the new stadium we know now.
• identify different ways that photos reflect the personalities of the people in the portraits.

This loans box includes an optional PowerPoint with embedded audio clips and learning points and activities to deliver a lesson using the objects, maps and photos supplied in the loans box.as well as creative writing suggestions.

Audience: KS2
Ideal for: history, Black History Month, communities

A range of materials such as personal testimonies from Brent’s Somali community, objects from the nomadic Somali people, traditional Somali dress, photographs and maps help children to explore Somali traditional culture and the Somali community in Brent.

Learning resources

• Somali traditional culture and community in Brent  

Audience: KS1 and KS2

Brent Culture Service worked with elders from the Windrush Generation who settled in Brent to learn about their experiences and to find out which objects were popular in their homes in the 50s and 60s.

This loans box contains original shoes and 7" records, a full petticoat to try on, a framed 60s wedding photograph, a special doll that decorated bathroom tissues and glass ornaments. Photographs of a reconstructed West Indian Front Room, portraits of elders from the Windrush Generation in Brent and two specially commissioned poems by Malika Booker complete the box.

Learning resources

• Brent’s Windrush Generation (.pdf, 1.56MB)

Audience: KS1 and KS2

These original objects illustrate the development over time of household tasks such as cooking, washing and cleaning, focusing particularly on home life before electricity. The accompanying archive material provides examples of different houses and building styles in Brent.

Audience: KS1

The range of old-fashioned toys in this box represent the changing styles and fashions of toys from past times to the present day.  There are a large range of toys to play with. Encourages exploration of changing materials and comparisons between old and new. The accompanying archive material shows historical images of children at play in Brent.

Learning resources

• Toys from Brent’s past (.pdf, 646.2kB)
• Video for teachers: Toys from Brent's Past

Audience: KS2

The archive material in this loans box shows images of Brent in Victorian times. These original objects can be used in the classroom to help understand daily life and innovation in Victorian times, including exploring the themes of housework, fashion and the typical school day.

Audience: KS2

This box contains original objects related to life on the home front during the Second World War, aiding the classroom teaching of themes such as rationing, air raids and evacuation. The accompanying archive material shows children evacuated from local schools, as well as bomb damage in the local area.