Cultural and Educational Services, Historical Characters for Schools , Scotland, UK

Artemis provides a variety of resources to those working in the field of education and access and learning.

Hands-on role playing sessions

These are designed for schools led by costumed interpreters to enable pupils to touch the past. All our workshops are planned to take into account the four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence, thus providing participative learning opportunities which aim to help pupils develop as confident individuals, successful learners, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society.

Costumed interpretation for open gallery work for family days

For museums, galleries and heritage sites and venues where the emphasis is on widening access to collections and informing and educating visitors, costumed interpretation is a medium which enhances the visitor experience.

Here is a selection of our most popular characters. Each workshop can be tailored to your particular needs whether in the classroom or as gallery events. If there is a period of history that you are working with that is not represented here, please contact us and we will be happy to help you. These workshops are just a small selection of the areas that we cover.

Scotland at the time of Mary, Queen of Scots

An Audience with Mary, Queen of Scots - meet Mary, Queen of Scots and find out what life was like at her Court. Learn how to be courtiers and how to behave in the presence of the Queen.

Edinburgh Castle – teacher and pupil comments

The children have had a wonderful day – they’ve learned how to behave in the 16th century. What a great way to learn history!

I liked dressing up and learning how to curtsy to the Queen.

NMSMuseum of Scotland -teacher and pupil comments

It was great for the children to see things that belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots and have them explained by the “Queen” herself.

What a dress! I wish we had clothes like that now.

Scotland at the time of Robert Burns

Meet "Bonnie Jean", the wife of Robert Burns, and discover what life was like in Scotland at that time and what it was like to live with Robert, the bard of Scotland.

Tundergarth Primary School, near Lockerbie

Mrs Burns was excellent and I'm sure the life of Robert Burns will mean a great deal more to them now.

Meet Miss Levack, the Victorian school teacher. Learn what it was like to be a child at school in Victorian times. Use a slate to practice your writing before using the pen and ink.

Sighthill Primary, Glasgow

This workshop reinforced many of the ideas taught in the classroom but in a more relevant context. It also gave the children the experience of working on the slates and with pen and ink.

Meet Maggie, the maidservant, hard at work in the kitchen. Find out what life was like “below stairs”. Learn how to set the table and fold napkins for the table of the master and mistress of the house. Handle Victorian kitchen equipment.

Eastriggs Community School, Eastriggs, near Annan:

Practical experience for the children; super to see continual reinforcement of names of articles throughout the session. Kept the children involved at all times

Meet Mrs Gladys Scott. While her husband, John, faces the enemy in North Africa and the Mediterranean, Gladys learns to deal with life on her own, coping with rationing and the new duties she must do as an ARP Warden.

Meet Miss Moffat, a teacher with a reputation for strictness, as she prepares your class for evacuation to the country on the eve of World War II. Check you've got your gas masks; you're going to need them!

Dean Park Primary, Balerno

Our Primary 7 pupils had the most wonderful experience. They were talking about it for days. It gave them a real feeling about what it would have been like to be a child leaving home.

Meet Sadie and learn what life was like just after World War II when washing took all day and there was no vacuum cleaner. Feel what it’s like to use a washboard and put the washing through the wringer. Then it’s time to beat the carpets clean. If you’re not too tired, Sadie will teach you some playground songs and rhymes.

Barmulloch Primary School, Glasgow

Excellent – this helped to bring theory to life….and was pitched to an appropriate level for our P2 pupils.

Teachers’ resource packs for museum and gallery use

Recent commissions include a teacher-led visit to Dumfries Museum on the Celts and an education pack to accompany the traveling exhibition, “The Bevin Boys” for the Scottish Mining Museum. We have recently completed an education resource pack based on the oral testimony of miners and their families who worked at the Barony pit in East Ayrshire for the Barony Trust.

Life on Board The Titanic

Bring the luxury and spectacle of the 1st Class accommodation of The Titanic to your class. Meet one of the passengers and find out about her day as you and your class are taught by the Chief Steward, Mr Latimer, how to look after this lady in her 1st Class stateroom.