Academic Excellence

The Room of Curiosities

Something strange lurks in Kingsmead’s library… Something that will take your breath away… Venture forth beyond the red curtains and be transported to a place of wonder…the Room of Curiosities!

One of the many fabulous innovation rooms here at Kingsmead, the Room of Curiosities is our very own school museum. Inside you will find a veritable treasure trove of mysterious items, historical documents, and relics from ages past.

Budding palaeontologists will be fascinated by an array of fossils and bones, as well as various other geological items, such as crystals, gemstones, and minerals, all of which help to make natural history tangible for Kingsmead students. Numerous pieces of flora and fauna in resin will also allow close inspection of anatomy. Moreover, there are animals in taxidermy: a tableau of birds in flight and a bat that floats and flits above your head! For those transfixed by the spooky happenings of the supernatural, we have a mermaid hand and a witch’s finger… a real voodoo doll and an uncanny doll’s house… and a musical carousel ornament that has been known to spontaneously emit its creepy melody… With the eerie lighting and “smell me” jars to stimulate olfactory responses, the school museum is a certified smorgasbord of the senses.

The Room of Curiosities is interwoven throughout schemes of learning and used to generate inspiration and unlock creative potential. Whether that be the English department studying the scale model of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, or Drama and Theatre students loudly proclaiming, replica skull in hand, “Alas poor Yorick, I knew him!”. Or perhaps our Religious Studies pupils want to view items relating to bygone religions – such as Ancient Egyptian papyrus scrolls. Equally, History students can see up-close a WW2 gas mask and soldiers’ helmets, as well as pore over many wartime documents, including newspapers and letters from generals and certificates of honour and commemoration.

All in all, the Room of Curiosities is packed full of artefacts that will resonate across all subjects. Beyond visiting during classes, students are also permitted entrance before school and after school, and at other times when the library is open. There are also many opportunities to take ownership of the museum and gain work experience through Room of Curiosities Ambassador roles, wherein students help to facilitate projects such as artefact showcases across school and the local area. The Room of Curiosities enrichment class also offers valuable opportunities to step into the shoes of a museum curator.