Opening Times

Tuesday - Sunday
10 am - 5 pm (April - October)
10 am - 4 pm (November - March)
Closed Mondays , except Bank Holidays. Closed Christmas and New Year.

What makes this a great venue for School group Fun or Educational Visits?

A great learning resource for children, the SPIDER Centre is a place where learning is fun and children can discover their history and heritage. All activities and services are free and visits may be tailored for your group.

What are the Curriculum Topics or Benefit to the students from a visit?

Science: Play: Imagination: Drama: Environment: Resources
History: Egyptians, Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Tudors, Victorians, Seaside Holidays in the Past, Toys & Games, WWII Home Front, Clothing Time-line
Science: Life Processes & living Things, Materials & Their Properties, Physical Processes
Geography: Geographical Skills & Enquiry, Places, Processes and Developments.
Art and Craft activities
Numeracy & Literacy activities

What are the activities?

History Handling Session: education staff led workshops with real and replica objects, costumes and hands-on activities to explore the lives of children of a particular time period.
Science: Seaside Science - exploring materials and their properties and sea cretures through experiments themed around water.
Forensic Apprentice - NEW (under development to be launched in Nov 2009)
5Alive & Micro Safari - exploring the environment through the senses and mini-beasts.
Geography: Historic Maps - plotting local history and the development of the region through our Historic Maps collection
Map Madness and Compass Confusion - compass and map reading skills through fun games and activities
Museum Detectives: Improve Numeracy & Literacy skills using the Museum, building, exhibitions and grounds as stimulus
Art and Crafts: many crafts to link with history topics. Buildings and grounds as inspiration.

What is the age range of the activities?

Foundation stage - university.
Most workshops are designed for KS1/2, but all may be adapted and/or augmented for other groups.

Sample programme of the activities:

10 am Tudor Lives Handling Session
11 am Museum Detective Numeracy Trail and shop visit
12 pm Lunch in Play Park
1 pm Tudor Wood-frame House Craft Activity
2.30 pm Return to school

What materials to you provide or suggest groups bring to support the visit?

Museum Detecitve trails available to download from website. Clipboards, pencils, Detective Spy Kits available to borrow.
Art and craft materials all provided. Indoor lunch space in wet weather. Education room, with digital projector and interactive whiteboard may be booked for self-led visits.
Digital video cameras are availabe to borrow for groups to record their visits.
Museum Explorer Backpacks and Traditional Games Boxes may be borrowed to use in the Museum and grounds. (a returnable deposit is required)

What are the minimum and maximum group sizes and the free Teacher Ratio?

The maximum group size we can accomodate in our SPIDER Centre education room is 60, however please contact us to discuss your options if you wish to bring a larger group.

We ask for an adult to child ratio of the following:
KS1 1:6
KS2 1:8
KS3/4 1:10

Do you have or how do you arrange risk assessment?

We are able to provide a copy of our Group Visit risk assessment upon which teachers may base their own risk assessments. Trip leaders are welcome to take advantage of our free familiarisation visits if they wish to prepare their own risk assessment.

Do you offer Teacher familiarisation days?

Yes - these are encouraged and are available Tuesday - Sunday, 9am - 5 pm. Simply call a member of our Education team to arrange your visit.

What facilities are there for school groups for food and drink, shop etc?

We have storage space for bags and coats in the SPIDER Centre.
There are picnic benches for lunch around the Museum grounds and gardens. The SPIDER Centre may be booked for lunch in bad weather.
Our café, Lillies, will be happy to provide picnic lunches for groups and cater for any special dietary requirements - with prior notice.
The Museum is fully wheelchair accessible, with a lift to all floors and disabled toilets in all buildings. We also have hearing loop facilities.
The Museum shop stocks a wide range of gifts and souvenirs with many at pocket-money prices. Goody bags from c.£1.50 may be ordered in advance of your visit. Contact the Museum for more information.

Is specific clothing required?

For environmental activities and 'Map Madness' activities - appropriate outdoor clothing/ sun protection should be brought.

Do you have first aid on site?

Yes, first aid boxes are available in all buildings and we have trained first aiders on site.

Are there any restrictions on photos, copyright etc?

Visitors are encouraged to record their trip, but some touring exhibitions may have restrictions. Please contact Museum staff for more information.

Additional information.

Visit the Museum website for teachers information, upcoming exhibitions, events and activities as well as newsletters, crafts and health and safety downloads