About

Time Odyssey  has been created in partnership by Art Explora  and the  British Museum  to break down the economic, geographic and cultural barriers that prevent many children from visiting their local museums.

It aims to encourage children to discover our national collections and learn through a fun digital learning adventure!

Our Aims

Increase access for school children to UK national museums
Reach underserved communities and regions by prioritisingschools that have not visited the museum before
Remove the cost barrier that prevents many schools frommaking school trips
Build awareness of our rich national collections and heritageand encourage repeat visits
Test new forms of digital technology for engaging childrenwith collections and enriching formal learning

“It's made a huge difference…it's increased their experiences, their learning and their ability. They all want to go back again. It’s instilled a love for the museum for them.”

Teacher

Why we are doing this ?

School trips to museums are recognised, and fondly remembered, as acherished part of school life. They offer an important real-world experiencethat can enhance academic, social and personal development.Howeverrecent research has shown that the number of school trips have decreasedacross the UK, as school budgets go down and everyday costs go up, and inthe context of a decline in creative education.

In September 2023, Art Fund published  research showing that only 1 in 3children had visited a museum in the past year, with significant disparitybetween urban and rural areas. Of this statistic, only 34% were children fromlower socio-economic backgrounds, compared to 47% of children from highersocial economic backgrounds.

Time Odyssey addresses this inequity by offering a completely freeexperience – both the museum visit and the transport costs are coveredthrough the programme. Art Explora works closely with partner museums totarget children at schools with a high percentage of free school meals, as wellas schools in rural areas – both identified as schools that typically do not takechildren on school trips. Time Odyssey has been designed to appeal to 7-11year olds by introducing familiar tools such as apps and tablets, as well asgaming techniques and impressive AR technology, to engage and learnthrough the power of play.

“Everyone you speak to who is involved in school trips will speak to theastonishing effect they can have on children and young people, especiallythose who are marginalised for whatever reason. You see a transformationthat could not have happened inside a classroom sitting behind a desk. Atrip unlocks things, sparks things, changes relationships between teachersand pupils, allows classmates to see each other differently and allowspupils to feel differently about themselves.”

Clore Duffield

Photos by Colin Davidson

Who is behind this ?

Art Explora is a UK charity founded in 2023 aiming to share arts and culture with everyone – locally, nationally and internationally – and inspires new encounters between arts and audiences.

The British Museum was the first national public museum in the world. The collection tells the stories of cultures across the world, from the dawn of human history, over two million years ago, to the present

Contact

If you'd like to find out more about this programme please get in touch here

E: [email protected]