What do the young people of St Mary’s think of the new Museum exhibition proposals?

It is vital for the project team to get the thoughts of the Island’s young people on the new Cultural Centre and Museum, so we organised two sessions with local school children during our July consultation to get their thoughts on the latest proposals for the new museum exhibitions.

This was an additional part of our July consultation, when we invited the public to give their views on the designs for future museum exhibitions and activities at the new Museum and Cultural Centre on St Mary’s. You can also read the results of our online and in-person survey here.

On the opening day of the July consultation, a class of Year 3 students from Five Islands Academy visited the Town Hall to see the ideas for the new museum galleries.

 Before their visit, they had undertaken online research to find out more about the building. They presented some of their key facts and recommendations.

They told us:

·        The town hall is 136 years old.

·        It carries loads of ancient history and has lots of valuable things in it.

·        It is listed and has architectural features that aren’t used any more.

·        It is classical architecture and makes us remember Queen Victoria and it helps us remember not to destroy stuff from history.

·        They had a toy fair in 1971 – people brought their shops to Scilly; this was good for business.

·        In 1970 the office extension was built to create extra space for council offices

·        Don’t think we should keep the extension.

·        Need to make the inside look a bit more modern.

·        Remove the vent (metal duct) and make the ceiling look nicer.

·        We need to reduce pollution as it is damaging the planet – get rid of the oil boiler.

The class of 28 students spent the morning of Monday 10 July at the Town Hall and took part in a carousel of planned activity which rotated for four groups of six or seven children. This was supervised by staff from the academy and supported by museum volunteers and a member of the team from heritage interpretation specialists, Imagemakers.

They were given an opportunity to explore the building, and review the exterior, to meet Image Makers (DR) and discuss the interpretation and gallery plans, to visit the Museum on the Move and to brainstorm ideas for the use of the auditorium / Town Hall.

Year Three children had these suggestions for the building:

• Restoration of stonework especially toothed quoins.

• Replacement or installation of glass in the window spaces.

• Addition of colour to doors and woodwork in places.

• Hanging baskets, window boxes and planters.

• Benches, seating and street furniture to be improved.

• Wood panelling on the outside to fit with other buildings.

• Make the back wall of the building (SW side) look better, repair damp and pointing.

• Keep the historic plaques, maybe add a new one.

• Open the window arches to make it look ‘happier and welcoming’.

• Make sure there is outside lighting at night time and in the winter.

• Improve the 1970’s extension as it looks out of place.

The Year Three children also made suggestions and comments about the proposals for the new museum exhibitions.

The visit coincided with the installation of the Community Consultation panels which include artists’ impressions of the gallery spaces and detailed floor plans.

Their chance to review the museum plans and galleries included the opportunity to suggest what they liked about the interpretation and how they would prioritise artefacts from the collections.

• The ideas are amazing – how did you come up with them?

• The hanging gig is good so you can see what it is like from underwater.

• Good to be able to see inside the gig and underneath.

• The gig-sail screen is cool and we could see films.

• A film about the islands to tell their story would be great.

• I love boats and want to know how you can hang the gig safely.

• Gallery 3 is the best because it is interactive.

• Gallery 4 is a really creative idea. I like flora and fauna.

• The Bryher Sword and Mirror are real Scilly treasure.

• The sword is cool, a farmer found it in his field.

• I like the siren sound in the ship’s funnel.

• We can look at the animals of Scilly.

• The laser cut map on the floor is good.

• The observation gallery and telescopes to look out to sea.

• The big ship’s bell from HMS Eagle

• The stuffed birds are part of history. Put the biggest birds on display.

• The white-tailed eagle is special.

• The gold coins from the Association wreck.

• The Cita wreck display is good, please keep it the same.

• Island Life should have boat building and flower farming.

• People will like having the café.

 What activities do the Year Three children want to take part in?

The students were asked to imagine walking into the refurbished town hall in the future. What would they like to see happening and what would they want to take part in? They drew and listed their favourite ideas.

70% Suggested Cinema

• Film shows / cartoons

• Harry Potter films

• Horrible Histories

• Dinosaurs and Jurassic Park

65% included VR and games

• 3D games / VR / simulators

• Time travel / through the ages

• Minecraft / Fortnite / tournaments

• Space Goggles / Sea goggles

• Radio Controlled car track

50% liked the use of the stage

• Live music and dance / concerts

• Talent shows

• Celebrity guests (Meghan Trainor)

• Circus skills and unicyles

25% wanted activities

• Slides / climbing frames

• Soft play

• Dressing up / costumes / photography

• Touch screens / interactive things

20% suggested animal themed activity

• Fish tanks

• Live animals

We also received feedback from a group of Year Four children from the school, who visited the Town Hall on 18 July.

Year 4 had recently visited the mainland for a dance event and attended both cinema and gallery venues in Penzance. This gave them some ideas for both interior and exterior features and these were recorded in bespoke worksheets adapted by staff.

The group were accompanied by their class teacher and support staff and completed a carousel of three activities, reviewing the exterior of the Town Hall to identify areas for improvement, investigating the interpretation panels and choice of galleries and exhibits, and proposing how the auditorium could be laid out including the various potential activities on offer.

The Year Four students had these suggestions for the building:

·        Needs brightening up and new signage and lighting

·        Flowers and signs saying what is going on

·        Posters and billboards for films and events

·        Open up the windows so people can see in

·        Flags on the flagpole and banners hanging from the front

·        Themed flags and banners for special events (Pride / Gig weekend etc)

·        Fairy lights and neon signs

·        The walls are dull, it looks brown, bland and boring

·        It looks old and rusty

What did the Year Four children like about the museum proposals?

 The children from Year Four had these comments about the Imagemakers museum gallery proposals, giving their ideas for the spaces and choosing areas they particularly liked:

• The map on the floor with lights on the islands

• Put the gig names on the stairs

• The ship’s wheel looks good

• There should be sea noises and a sea cave

• I want things to open and close and hold

• Looking into the portholes

• Lots of facts about the islands

• The Island Life room and kitchen

• Can we try on the clothes?

• The maritime heritage

• It looks really good so far

• The introduction film looks good

• We should tell stories of what happened in the past

• Put the gig names on the stairs

• Make the floor in the observation room like the ocean

• The introduction film is very cool

• I like the animals in the observation room

• Have things about the Grand Ball of Roseveare

• Telescopes in the observation point

• Can we have a children’s trail?

• The big maps on the wall

• Island Life has lots of interesting things

• The gig hanging up

• The introductory film is good

How do Year 4 children want to use the performance space?

• Cinema was most common idea with raked / comfortable seating requested. Red seats were the preferred colour and suggestions for programming included The Harry Potter or Star Wars series, and new releases including ‘Barbie’.

• A theatre space and stage offer out of school was popular. Talent shows and fashion shows were mentioned as well as the idea of inviting high profile musicians to come and perform on Scilly.

• Gaming was suggested, influenced by an arcade visit on the mainland, with video games, VR and the potential for gaming tournaments or large screen events all seen as unavailable to young people on the islands.

• The café generated considerable discussion with Fast Food being topical following the mainland visit. Themed World food was suggested along with several popular brands. Popcorn and milkshakes were proposed for the cinema events.

• Atmospheric and colourful lighting was listed by several students as a feature to give the auditorium a special quality and atmosphere - again based on their recent experience at Mount’s Bay Academy.

Year Three and Four children were keen to see new cinema releases being screened in the Cultural Centre and Museum performance space.