College student takeover at Rochdale Pioneers Museum! In November, we were joined by students studying Travel and Tourism at Hopwood Hall College for our first ever Takeover Day. A Takeover Day is when museums, galleries, historic homes, archives and heritage sites invite young people in to take over jobs normally done by adults. Our Takeover Day was inspired by the Kids in Museums who run a national Takeover Day initiative every year. We were joined by a group of 20 students who enjoyed an action-packed day where they explored what it was really like to operate a small venue. All the students were visiting us for the first time, so their first task was to familiarise themselves with the museum and the story of the co-operative movement. They sat in on one of our tours and then had the opportunity to freely explore so they could experience what a typical visitor might see or do during a visit. They then got the opportunity to ask questions about the tour and the museum, plus share their views on what could make these more interesting and engaging to their peers. On top of that, they learned about the different careers available in museums and the steps needed for different career options. Next the students learned more about some the museum’s current priorities and what we’d like to improve on. As staff members, we shared that we would love to be more relevant to young people and some of the opportunities to do this, highlighting that there are lots of ways that young people can engage with co-operative ideas. The students were then tasked with thinking about how our first-floor space could be redesigned to better suit the local community. They were given a design brief and budget and in groups were given time to come up with some ideas. We loved the students’ ideas which included kid-friendly adulteration testing stations, and re-imaginings of a mythical female Pioneer called Ann Tweedale. The students then had the chance to make their own TikTok videos aimed at audiences in their age bracket. The students enjoyed this task and made full use of the museum space to make videos which used current TikTok trends and sounds, with the intention of attracting a wider viewership. This was a particularly enjoyable task for pupils, whose editing and creative abilities flourished. Overall, the Takeover Day was a great mutual learning experience in which students and museum staff alike were introduced to new ideas. Angela Bamford, who is a lecturer at Hopwood Hall college, said: “Our learners had an amazing day at the Pioneers Takeover. An engaging talk by one of the staff members provided us with the interesting origin story of the Pioneers followed by a great presentation on careers within the museum industry. It couldn’t have come at a better time as many of the learners are about to leave college and start their own career journey. A valuable day which put classroom theory in practice – thank you to all the amazing staff.” This day was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the views of young people and how to make our space more engaging and exciting to young people. We’re very keen to invite more students to take over our museum again in 2026. Manage Cookie Preferences