Slough Museum is moving into Langley College in what may be the first partnership of its kind.

Langley College - which is part of the Windsor Forest Colleges Group - has become the new home for Slough Museum.

Although the museum will maintain a permanent exhibition in the Curve, the college in Station Road will now hold the bulk of the museum’s 6,000 artefacts and 5,000 photographs.

The new museum is expected to open in January.

Many of the exhibits will be clustered in the college's ‘Genovation’ hub, in which exhibits will be rotated in and out of storage to ensure the experience remains fresh.

Museum volunteers will continue to monitor and maintain the exhibits, and run events, talks, and workshops with the students.

Alexandre Mustatea, 16, an IT student at Langley College, said: “We’ll be comparing pictures from the past to the same locations today, to show how much Slough has changed.

“We’ll be using Virtual Reality headsets to walk people through the pictures.”

The museum hopes to place its exhibits in places relevant to the subjects being studied there – exhibits relevant to hair and beauty will find a new home in the college’s salon, while ones relevant to mechanics or construction will be exhibited in those departments.

Steve Green, 60, museum development manager for Slough Museum, said: “Museums are facing a difficult time due to the cuts, and are having to re-invent themselves.

“This is the first time a museum and further education college have combined, and hopefully its a model that spreads.”

Among the exhibits that are currently being installed were a WW2 air-raid warden helmet, a gas mask, a variety of Horlicks products, a bike, and a wartime aircraft identification guide.

Richard Kirkham, assistant principal for further education at Langley College, said: “We believe this partnership with Slough Museum brings the past and future together perfectly.

“ It will enable our students to learn and understand the history of their communities and how different industries have developed in the town.”

Both organisations are moving forward and have already begun collaborating on a ‘Young Roots’ project, in which students will research the changing face of Slough High Street, before developing a travelling exhibition and smartphone app on the topic.