What's On

We are delighted to announce the Iris Festival of Natural History, Art and More on 27th March, 2019.

This event will be a large community event to celebrate the Rumble Museum at Cheney School as it continues the process of becoming the first Arts Council Accredited museum in a state school.

There will be five main discovery zones: Natural History, Art, Archaeology, Storytelling and Anthropology. Each zone will contain activities, stalls, exhibitions, workshops, and a wide range of visiting museums with artefacts to handle and explore. There will  be shows including animatronic dinosaurs, as well as the opportunity to see birds of prey! There will also be fossils pits, an opportunity to make your own prints at a printing press, the Story Museum's Little Shop of Stories, an ancient Greek daily life museum, Roman music, artists' exhibitions, as well as a cafe serving refreshments and hot and cold drinks.

The event will include expert talks as well as a wide range of stalls, activities and exhibitions. Visitors will be able to follow an exciting new model Dragonfly Trail as they explore the site, with each discovery zone containing striking decorations, workshops, stalls,  performances and activities themed on different aspects of museum learning.

The stalls, activities and exhibitions run from 3.30 until 6pm. It is free and caters for all ages. Primary and secondary school groups are warmly welcome.

The following talks will also take place throughout the afternoon and evening:

3.30 - 4pm - Professor Richard Fortey, Natural Historian and Palaeontologist

4.15 - 4.45pm - Professor Helen King, 'Ancient Greek Magic and Medicine'

5.15 - 5.45pm - Peter Randall-Page, Artist and Sculptor, Royal Academician

6 - 6.45pm - Will Gompertz, BBC Chief Arts Correspondent

The festival itself does not require booking unless you are visiting with a school group. Talks do need to be booked, and can be done so by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We're delighted to be taking part in the BBC's Civilisations Festival this month with an exhibition, talks and performance from a professional storyteller.

On Monday 5th March, Jeff Wright, Storyteller and Creator of the Trojan War Podcast will deliver a fast-paced, hugely exciting show featuring some of the best-loved excerpts from the Iliad, as well as stories from before the Trojan War and from the Odyssey.

This year, The Rumble Museum at Cheney is running a variety of projects, exhibitions, talks and workshops to explore the story of Women’s Suffrage in the UK and beyond.

There will be a variety of pop-up exhibitions and events throughout the year, starting with Year Eight students creating an alternative guide to the Weston Library’s Exhibition “From Sappho to Suffrage” and culminating with an all day event on 14th December to mark the first time women in England voted in a general election.

 The Rumble Museum at Cheney School is delighted to announce its Green Festival on Friday 19th January. Over the next few weeks and months, the Rumble Museum is working with Cheney School's Environmental Impact Team to explore the vital issues of sustainability and conservation.

We are honoured that the event will be opened by Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, who will speak and take questions between 1.30 and 2.30pm.

Can you help the Rumble Museum at Cheney School save stories, memories, and objects from the First World War?

We need people to bring any objects (photographs, diaries, letters, medals, souvenirs, etc) that your family has kept from World War One, or just stories that have been passed down to our Digital Collection Day. We will then record your story or photograph the object and get details from you on their background and upload this to a major web site to be launched on 11^th November 2018. The web site will be freely available to anyone to use and will help preserve these key objects and documents from the War.

Friday 9th February 2018, 3 - 6pm

We are delighted to announce our Festival of Imagined Worlds on Friday 9th February 2018. This event will celebrate novels set in imaginary worlds, exploring how ancient myths and histories have often inspired these worlds. There will be museum artefacts to explore and handle which are connected to imagined worlds and stories.

The event will include author talks and book illustration workshops, as well as a wide range of stalls, activities and exhibitions. Visitors will be able to walk through different fictional worlds as they explore the site, each one containing striking decorations, workshops, stalls,  performances and activities themed on novels and authors. These will include the worlds of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman and others. A number of museums will be bringing artefacts, and running stalls and activities.

The stalls, activities and exhibitions run from 3 until 6pm. It is free and caters for all ages. School groups are warmly welcome.

The following author talks will also take place throughout the afternoon and evening:

2.30 - Melinda Salisbury, author of The Sin-Eater's Daughter

3pm - Alice Broadway, author of Ink

3.30 - Alan Gibbons, author of Shadow of the Minotaur

4.30 - Steve Voakes, author of The Dreamwalker's Child

5pm - Angie Sage, author of the Septimius Heap series

The festival itself does not require booking unless you are visiting with a school group. Author talks do need to be booked, and can be done so by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There is also a costume competition at the Festival - you can read details of how to enter here

Poster image,"Bluebell Woods", by Danny Flynn, is inspired by Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire. Danny Flynn will be running workshops as part of the festival.