Year 9 History ChichestHER project with the Novium

The History Department has been working with the Novium Museum in Chichester this school year to cocreate a loan box to complement the ChichestHER exhibition which opens in October 2026. Having been using loan boxes to support our KS3 Curriculum we were asked to support their bid for funding for the exhibition from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, following the success of this bid we were then invited to work with the museum so students could be directly involved in developing a loan box. 

A group of 15 Year 9 students volunteered to take part in the project which involved 2 after school sessions and finished with a trip to the Novium at the end of April.  The students discovered the stories of the women planned to feature in the exhibition and chose objects relevant to the women’s stories.   Next the students curated the objects by writing parts of the labels that explain the objects to teachers using the loan box in schools.  The items were purchased by the museum (including some 19th Century Russian postcards which were posted from Ukraine) and museum staff put the finishing touches to the labels. Together students and museum staff have created a lasting resource which can be used by schools in and around Chichester. During our visit to the museum we were able to see the finished box as well as find out more about the marketing involved with a successful exhibition. We also visited the current Elmer exhibition which the Year 9 students loved!

One of our students who took part wrote:

“The ChichestHER workshops were incredibly fun and eye opening as, prior to it, I didn't know about any historical figures who came from Chichester let alone any female figures. I really enjoyed connecting with other students who also enjoyed learning about history. My favourite part of the experience was suggesting and choosing which objects would go in the loan box and my favourite object was definitely the squishy bread. Overall it was an incredibly enjoyable experience and everyone was very friendly.”

Thank you to all the students involved for taking part so enthusiastically to make sure the women’s history is recognised and remembered.

Louisa Fowles, Teacher of History