ESOL at Tullie

Through our Community Membership scheme, we welcome many groups who often require additional activities and resources to engage with our collections and spaces.

One of the groups who visit regularly are English language learners, asylum seeking people and refugees.

We host visits for learners of all levels and most recently hosted a group to see the COLOUR exhibition. The students took part in speaking and listening activities where they selected an artwork or object, discussed them, and presented their thoughts to their group. The visit also included an engaging guessing game using Driggsby the whale which encouraged participants to practise new vocabulary and use translation tools to solve the mystery.

An additional creative activity inside the exhibition provided further opportunities for the group to have informal conversations and learn more about each other.

We also shared specially designed trails for some self-led explorations of other galleries – encouraging participants to work together and interact with our gallery engagers to find some key objects of interest.

In other sessions, smaller groups of beginner learners, including people with very limited literacy or formal education were invited to explore our exhibitions at their own pace before completing focused worksheets linked with observing and describing the collections.

These sessions demonstrate how Tullie can provide welcoming, low-pressure environments where people build confidence in language skills and socialise with new people.

Using exhibitions in this way supports inclusive learning, encourages social interaction, and helps reduce barriers for people who might otherwise feel unable to access cultural spaces, while also building connection within the community.