The 78 pupils from Central visited Great North Museum: Hancock to see the Roman and Stone Age exhibitions in the Hancock and also walked into the city centre to look at buildings and infrastructure including Haymarket’s Metro and bus stations.

The museum’s Hadrian’s Wall gallery enables visitors to discover the detailed history of the World Heritage Site as well as finding out about all the forts, milecastles and associated museums that can be visited today. It includes a wealth of archaeological finds from across the 73 mile stretch of Hadrian’s Wall.

Today’s trip ties neatly into the curriculum – in recent history lessons the children have been learning about the Stone Age and Roman Britain and in geography they are going to be learning about cities.

Eighty Year 3 pupils from Ashington Learning Trust’s Bothal Primary School will be going on the same visit tomorrow.

The history of Hancock

The Great North Museum: Hancock was purpose built as a natural history museum in 1884 to house the growing collections of the Natural History Society of Northumbria.

Noted Newcastle-born ornithologist and taxidermist John Hancock was instrumental in securing funds for the museum. When he died in 1890 the museum, briefly called the New Museum of Natural History, was renamed the Hancock Museum. John Hancock donated his prolific collection of British birds to the museum, many of which are in the museum today.

Following a £26m redevelopment in 2009, the Hancock Museum merged with the Museum of Antiquities and the Shefton Museum to become the Great North Museum: Hancock and is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums on behalf of Newcastle University.

It includes a Library and Natural History Archive and also houses the Environmental Records Information Centre for the North East 

Other key features include the Living Planet gallery which tells the story of wildlife and habitats, the Mouse House, Fossil Stories which has a T. rex replica skeleton, Ancient Egyptians, Natural Northumbria and World Cultures.

The collections in the museum belong to the Natural History Society of Northumbria, the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Shefton collection of Greek and Etruscan objects was bequeathed by the late Professor Brian Shefton.

Today’s Newcastle visit is one of many curriculum experiences taking place during the spring and summer terms for different year groups. Others include a farm visit, beach trip, day at Plessey Woods and trips to Alnwick Garden, Lindisfarne and Wallington.