Henley College Students Run the Show at River & Rowing Museum Takeover
Students Take Charge: Takeover Day at River & Rowing Museum
December rarely feels so lively in a museum, but on the 2nd, eight teenagers from The Henley College brought a fresh spark to the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames. Forget guided tour scripts read by seasoned docents—this time, the students ran the entire show. It wasn't just a school trip. For one day, these students held the keys, made decisions, and got an authentic taste of what it’s like behind museum walls during Takeover Day, the national event putting young people in charge.
The Takeover Day movement is no ordinary school project. It started as a way to flip tradition, handing over leadership of cultural spaces to teens and letting them discover how museums tick. Across the country, museums like the River & Rowing Museum join in by giving real responsibilities—everything from project management to public speaking and curation—to groups like this group from The Henley College. It's a full-immersion experience. The students weren’t shadowing; they were managing, leading presentations, and even evaluating how their tours influenced visitors.
On that day, these eight students handled jobs often reserved for paid staff. Some focused on curating tours, guiding intrigued guests through the museum’s collection of rowing memorabilia and river history with a new perspective. Others dove into project management tasks, helping ensure each activity flowed smoothly and guests felt engaged. The students also had input in the visitor experience, learning first-hand how details like signage, accessibility, and storytelling shape how people feel about culture and history.
Learning by Leading: Skills for the Future
What makes this special? According to museum staff, teens rarely get a chance to shape the present of places dedicated to history. By letting them lead exhibitions and manage day-to-day operations, Takeover Day shows that young perspectives aren’t just welcome—they’re needed. The skills picked up aren’t just about museums either. Public speaking, teamwork, reacting quickly when tours go off-script, and balancing time: those are tools that suit just about any future path. Several students said it was their first time running a public event or interacting with visitors on such a direct level.
The River & Rowing Museum has always been about local history, but inviting in students helps keep that history alive and relatable. Organizers say the hand-on approach does more than boost resumes; it challenges students to engage with heritage and see museums as living, changing spaces. The day wrapped with students reflecting on what worked, what they’d change, and how to get even more people involved next time. Some even suggested tweaks to how the museum tells stories—proof that young voices can push old institutions in fresh directions.
The Takeover Day event is catching on in other parts of the UK, with museums, archives, and cultural centers eager to try out similar handovers. For places like the River & Rowing Museum, the event is a reminder that the future of heritage needs more than careful preservation—it needs the energy and creativity of people just finding their place in the world.