Job reference – Dalkeith Museum Education Project 2021/2022
Position – Self-employed Education Freelancer
Organisation – Dalkeith History Society
Location – Dalkeith, Midlothian
Closing Date – Friday 17th September 2021

Fee –    Phase 1 – Fixed term for scoping project – 6 days @ £200 (excluding VAT) per day.
Phase 2 – 25-day estimate* contract @ £250 per day for a maximum fee of £6,250 (excluding VAT) including travel and business expenses.
Phase 3 – 35-day estimate * contract @ £250 per day for a maximum fee of £8,750 (excluding VAT) including travel and business expenses.
*number of days may be subject to change dependent upon activities or between Phases 2 and 3 allocation.

Background

Dalkeith Museum is a small private museum located within the grade A listed Corn Exchange on Dalkeith’s High Street. The museum is managed and run by Dalkeith History Society via a team of local volunteers, (The Museum Advisory Group). It has been located in the historic Corn Exchange since 2016.

Dalkeith has an interesting past. Once the main market town of Dalkeith and the original seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch, it has hosted political greats such as William Gladstone, great artists such as JMW Turner and is the birthplace of Robert Smith, renowned architect in Philadelphia and more recently Derek Dick , AKA Fish, lead singer with the band Marillion! There are Roman remains and evidence of witchcraft and persecution to be found in the old buildings and churchyards in and around the town.

In the museum, fixed display panels feature agriculture, industry, crime, law and order, and social and domestic life in Dalkeith over the past 200 years. Additionally, these are supplemented by temporary, bespoke exhibitions which have included Agriculture, local hero James Stagg, The Second World War and Local Industries.

In 2019, the museum received over 1,250 visitors from a variety of backgrounds, age and nationality including groups of children from local primary schools. This school activity was, in the main, based on the specific request from the school to encourage the children to learn about their home town. The activities delivered in the museum covered living, working and going to school in old Dalkeith. Selected local volunteers talked to groups from the visiting classes (Primaries 3 -7) about their memories of the topics, using artefacts as props, and helped the children begin simple worksheets which were completed in class.

The museum has a number of themed handling boxes which can be used off-site and in the museum. At present the boxes contain a small selection of items which cover education, industry and home life. Volunteers have taken them into schools to support local history talks, but their use has been limited and the information contained does require to be updated and refocused to reflect targeted recipients.

Proposed New Education Programme

To build on this, so far, reactive, contact with local schools, educational establishments and the local community we would like to develop a new, proactive education programme to engage local communities in the history and heritage of Dalkeith and to promote access to our collection and stories.

Job Requirements

  • We are seeking an Education Freelancer with a proven track record within the sector to devise, deliver and evaluate creative programmes for local schools and young people in the community. The post will be based in Dalkeith Museum and will interpret our varied collections.
  • The post holder will work alongside the museum’s team of volunteers, with local community groups, existing and new audiences and participants.
  • This role will also explore developing on-line engagement to support our education programme.
  • As the role may/will involve Regulated work with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults membership of PVG is required.  Assistance to meet this requisite will be given if required.
  • It is also expected that the successful applicant would have appropriate insurance cover e.g. Public Liability Insurance

The Project

The project has been split into three Phases: Scoping, Development and Implementation.

Phase 1 -Scoping

The successful applicant will be expected to liaise with local educational establishments, community groups and museum volunteers to draft and submit their proposals for an innovative learning programme. The programme, which will be developed in Phase 2, will be based on the museum collections and in line with curriculum requirements. It should include activities that can be done in school, at the museum and at home making full use of our website. The programme should be devised with our museum volunteers in mind, who will run it in the longer term.

The successful applicant will present their draft proposals to the Museum Advisory Group for sign off.

Phase 2 – Development

The successful applicant will be required to

  • develop a programme of activities and workshops. The activities should be exciting and engaging for schools as well as providing informal and educational activities for younger visitors to the museum. The activities should be compliant with current Covid-19 guidelines.
  • pilot the programme by trialling it with local schools and groups and then refine following feedback.
  • create and develop specific educational material with copyright and intellectual property of Dalkeith Museum, which will be suitable for schools and younger visitors to the museum.
  • create and develop specific educational resources with copyright and intellectual property of Dalkeith Museum for the museum website.
  • liaise with and appoint contractors to supply the necessary materials to an agreed specification and within the allocated budget.

Phase 3 – Implementation

  • manage and deliver a programme of workshops and activities.
  • carry out evaluation adapting the sessions where necessary.
  • train museum volunteers in delivering workshops and activities, to ensure the sustainability of programme.

Reporting

The Museum Advisory Group will make every effort to facilitate the work of the freelancer by providing relevant information and knowledge where appropriate and possible.

The successful applicant will make regular progress reports to the Museum Advisory Group.

Timing

The successful applicant will deliver an initial presentation of the proposed programme to the Museum Advisory Group.

We foresee the new education programme being completed and ready for Phase 3 implementation in 2022.

Closing Date

The closing date for applications is Friday 17th September 2021.  Short listed applicants will be asked to for interview(s) in Dalkeith Corn Exchange during w/c 11th October 2021.

To apply

Please send a current CV and covering letter outlining how you meet the person specification outlined below, using samples from projects you have undertaken to:

Dalkeith Museum
61 St Andrew Street
Dalkeith
EH22 1BP
Email: info@dalkeithmuseum.co.uk

The successful candidate will have the following experience, skills and competencies:

Essential

  • Proven experience in engaging a range of audiences in high-quality learning programmes
  • Experience of delivering community programmes for a range of ages
  • Proven experience of sustaining effective partnerships with local community organisations.
  • Excellent verbal and written skills, to communicate effectively with diverse groups
  • Ability to deliver training / lead workshops for adults
  • Ability to work successfully as part of a team and on own initiative
  • Ability to prioritise own workload to meet deadlines
  • Computer literacy, with excellent knowledge of MS Word, Excel and Outlook
  • A flexible approach to work 

Desirable

  • Good understanding of social media and the development of online engagement tools
  • Experience in cultural heritage or arts organisation