Essential Information

All school or group visits (including teacher led visits) must be booked in advance, please contact the venue directly to do this. Alternatively please use our online workshop enquiry form.

When you enquire about a visit please have the following information to hand:

• Name and address of school
• Contact Name
• Telephone number
• Email address
• LEA
• Number of pupils & year group
• Preferred dates
• Packed lunch requirements
• Access requirements

Entry to all our venues is free. However charges apply on all our facilitated workshops in venue and those taking place in school. All the charges are clearly stated in all printed literature and website which relate to a specific activity, the table below is a guide only. Charges will also be clearly communicated to you by the learning team when you make your enquiry.

Teacher led visits are free and downloadable resources to use when visiting the venue are available to download for free.

Payment:

All facilitated workshops must be paid for in advance of the booked workshop taking place. Once booking a workshop you will receive an email with:

• Details of visit
• Terms & conditions
• Booking confirmation
• Hazard Identification

Payment can be made in two ways:

Invoice – Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums will invoice your school for the workshop you have booked. If you wish to use this method of payment please return by email the completed ‘Facilitated Workshop/Visit Confirmation Form’ with the following information:

• School name
• Full address including postcode
• Point of contact (this is usually your school business manager or member of the administration team)

Newcastle City Council Journal request - If you are a Newcastle school then please use this method of payment please return by email the completed ‘Facilitated Workshop/Visit Confirmation Form’ with the following information:

• School name
• Point of contact (this is usually your school business manager or member of administrator team)
• Cost Code and Sub Code

A member of the venue learning team will contact you as soon as possible; we aim to reply within 3 working days, either by email or phone. The staff member will highlight the options available to you and discuss the details of your visit.

Confirmation - Once this has happened you will receive a ‘booking’ email. Check the details on here thoroughly and read the attached terms and conditions. If all the information is correct and you want to confirm the booking send back the ‘Facilitated Workshop/Visit Confirmation Form’ within five working days as confirmation.

Failure to confirm your booking within five working days will mean your booking will be cancelled and the slot given to another group.

If you have to cancel a booking please contact the venue immediately to arrange an alternative date.

If Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums have to cancel and no agreeable alternative is found or re-scheduling is not possible a refund will be offered.

If bad weather or other circumstances result in the school closing so that the visit cannot take place, the session will be re-arranged or an alternative found where possible. Refunds will not be offered in this instance.

Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your tour or workshop so you will have sufficient time to place coats and bags in the cloakroom and use the toilet facilities if necessary.

Pre-booked workshops vary in length from 45 minutes to all day, the duration of each workshop is stated on all material related to the workshop and will be communicated to you when you book your visit. We recommend you take advantage of our packed lunch spaces and spend a full day at the venue combining a workshop with a free teacher led visit.

Yes! We highly recommend you make a preliminary visit to help you get the most out of your trip, especially if you are on a teacher led visit. The Learning Team are happy to discuss your visit with you, ensuring you and your pupils get the most from it. Please contact them directly for more information on the resources available or to arrange a meeting to discuss your requirements.

Unfortunately we do not have a Risk Assessment you can download, as the Department of Education's publication 'Safe Keeping' states, ‘the group leader should carry out a risk assessment’. However each venue has a Hazard Identification Sheet which, along with your preliminary visit, will help you write your risk assessment.

The Hazard Identification Sheets can be found here. For further help please contact the venue Learning Team directly.

We suggest a ratio of 1:10, however this is only a guideline, and there are no restrictions on the number of adults you can bring. It is your responsibility to ensure your pupils safety and conduct whilst visiting the venue. We suggest you prepare your pupils and adult helpers for the visit, ensuring a valuable and enjoyable experience for all.

Certain workshops will have different ratio recommendations, please ask the venue Learning Team for specific information when booking.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums actively try to make our venues as safe as possible. However, our venues (especially outdoor sites) can still be hazardous. Members of staff are always onsite to ensure, as far as possible the safety of visitors. However, ultimately your pupils are your responsibility, never leave them unsupervised.

Please ensure that your pupils are suitably dressed and are wearing appropriate footwear for the weather and activities they are participating in.

On arrival please report to the front reception desk where you will be asked to sign the group in to the venue.

Lunch spaces are available at all venues, however due to high demand all visiting groups must book a lunch space when making their booking. Confirmation of your lunch space booking will be sent to you on your booking email.

Outdoor picnic areas are also available at certain venues during the summer months.

All venues have a shop on site. We ask that a maximum of 10 children, with a supervising adult visit at any one time.

All our venues have accessible male and female toilets.

Hazard Identification Sheets, teachers packs and resource sheets are all available in the Resources section of the website.

To ensure you are up to date with th latest opportunities from TWAM make sure you sign up to our e-flyer on the hompage of Schools Online.

TWAM also regularly hosts free twilight teacher CPD sessions both in school and in venue. These sessions include CPD sessions which are subject specific and linked to specific exhibitions. Please see the CPD section of the website for details of latest events for teachers.