With funding from Wellington Community Trust, school students from all around the Wellington region are getting to see the Gallipoli exhibition at Te Papa.

Students looking at the exhibits

Gallipoli: the scale of our war – developed  by Te Papa working closely with Weta Workshop – opened in 2015 and has so far attracted over 700,000 visitors.

Even though the exhibition is free, for many school students in the region, getting to Te Papa to see it isn’t. Wellington Community Trust has provided funding of $15,000 to Te Papa to make sure they don’t miss out.

‘When Te Papa asked us to help them bring more than 1,000 students to the Gallipoli exhibition it was an easy decision. That campaign is such an important part of who we are as New Zealanders. For the students, most of whom wouldn’t normally get this opportunity, learning about it through the very personal stories of those who were there is a memorable experience.’ noted Chief Executive Mark Cassidy.

In April students from Tairangi School in Porirua and Naenae Intermediate took the opportunity to join one of the guided tours. Naenae Intermediate teacher, Liz McJorrow commented in the TVNZ news story about their visit, ‘The benefit is immense. The opportunity to have all the kids come in and have a shared experience that’s part of their heritage … we can hang a lot of learning off that.’

TVNZ: The scale of Gallipoli horror not lost on Kiwi kids

As well as the public exhibition, Te Papa has provided resources and special tours for schools.

Photos: Te Papa

WCT Trustee, Dawn Sanders joined students from Tairangi School for their visit to the exhibition.