Time Odyssey Comes to the Tees Valley

29 May 2025

Time Odyssey, created in partnership by Art Explora and the British Museum, is a national learning programme that takes 7–11-year-old school children on a quest through their local museum – both physically and virtually.

Students meet characters lost in time: Revna, the Viking of the Sea; Cheng, a Trainee Scribe from Ancient China; Felix, future leader from Roman Britain and Hori, a tomb painter from Ancient Egypt. Together they work in teams to tackle five quests and open the time portal to help their chosen character return back in time.

Art Explora and the British Museum have collaborated with digital developer 1UP Studios to create a new digital learning adventure which is played on tablets (loaned to the class for the day).

Follow this link to discover more

Time Odyssey is based on the key elements of the National Curriculum, and is designed to be played by KS2 classes with the help of teachers and museum staff.

The class teacher will be responsible for the class on the day, with introductions, timetables, resources and technical support provided by the Middlesbrough museum team. We recommend 3 accompanying adults per class. Younger KS2 classes and those needing additional reading support will require more supporting adults. This may include parent helpers and TAs. Time will be available during your day to eat lunch. Pre-and post-visit resources are also provided.

We recommend sharing this video with your class before your visit.

A tablet showing the "cloak of safekeeping" being held by two school children who you can see reading the instructions

Students are encouraged to:

Understand the life and skills of people from different historical periods;
Work in teams to observe, analyse, and communicate information on collections in the museum;
Make cross-curricula connections to English, Science, Art and Geography;
Increase their awareness of what it means to visit a museum, building their cultural capital and become inspired to visit and explore more museums and galleries.

We hope that teachers will:

Build their confidence visiting museums with pupils.
Build their understanding of the potential for Tees Valley Museums as a learning venue.

Transport Grant:

Schools participating in the Time Odyssey experience can apply for travel funding up to a maximum of £500 per coach. To apply for financial support, please complete the application form here. If you are unable to access the form, please download the word version, and send a completed version to timeodyssey@artexplora.org.

Three children wearing purple tabards look intently at a tablet.

1682 TWAM Art Explorer /Time Odyssey

Priority booking will go to schools that:

Have a high Pupil Premium (40% FSM or above.) We use the Information about Schools website to check these details
Have not visited the Dorman in the previous year.

To find out if your school is eligible for 2025/26, please get in touch:

chloe_leeson@middlesbrough.gov.uk (Dorman Museum)

Art Explora

Art Explora is a UK charity which aims to increase access to arts and culture and develop new opportunities for engagement and participation with the arts. They work in partnership with artists, cultural organisations and communities, embracing all art forms, to create transformative cultural experiences. Founded in the UK in 2021, they believe in sharing successful models and looking for opportunities to scale up programmes both across the UK and internationally. 

1UP Studios

is a new kind of digital agency founded by architects, technology pioneers, game developers and creative strategists. The team specializes in using immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create original three-dimensional digital experiences that connect people to a place through play.

The British Museum

The first national public museum of the world.

The British Museum is unique in bringing together under one roof the cultures of the world, spanning continents and oceans. No other museum is responsible for collections of the same depth and breadth, beauty and significance.

Its eight million objects allow us to explore the extraordinary diversity of human cultures, from small communities to vast empires, to discover the many forms and expressions human beings have given to every aspect of life, and to realise how closely they are interconnected.

02 November 2026

Creative Callout: Creatives wanted for schools based project

Tees Valley Museums are looking to appoint five creative practitioners to work in five schools across the Tees Valley, working alongside the museum teams and class teachers to plan and deliver a series of lessons to support English, in particular oracy.

Find out more→

23 December 2025

British Museum in Your Classroom - Arctic Expressions

Kirkleatham Museum partnered with the British Museum to enhance the Museum in your Classroom initiative. The project saw two local primary schools, Green Gates and Errington, being given the unique opportunity to host an authentic object from the British Museum’s famous collections within their own school for a day.

Find out more→

21 October 2025

Callout for Creative Writer

Tees Valley Museums are looking to appoint a writer who will work alongside Kirkleatham and Preston Park Museums on our KS3 project, "Tees Valley Voices: Identity through Time."

Find out more→

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