At English Heritage we offer pre-booked learning groups free entry to 420 historic sites in our care. The value of outside-the-classroom learning is enormous and historic sites in particular can be used for an endless range of cross-curricular opportunities. As one teacher on a recent self-led visit put it - “To actually run around in a castle and hear the noises that are made, to touch the walls, to feel everything - you just cannot put that learning into a classroom, it’s impossible.”

“Heritage learning encompasses a huge set of skills - not just learning facts about history but understanding how people operate and interact with their environment”, says education team leader Pippa Smith. “If you tell children something, maybe one or two will remember the facts. If you help them investigate and find things out for themselves, 90% of them are going to remember the facts. Making a connection between a theoretical fact and a practical reality is key - and that’s where English Heritage can really support.” Our seven minute film shows what can be accomplished through play and what learning looks like at English Heritage properties.

Activity-packed local heritage trails, new-look teachers’ kits, inspiring films, on-site handling collections and activities - these are some of the exciting new learning resources and items currently being developed to help bring to life even the most esoteric mounds and ruins. To help make risk assessments a doddle and visits easy, we send group leaders a hazard information sheet for each site together with a richly illustrated teacher’s kit (full of historic and site details as well as lesson ideas). Free entry permits can be used for free familiarisation visits and we even offer learning groups leaders 20% off site guidebooks which they can buy to help prepare for the class visit.

Many sites are open regularly 1 April – 31 Oct and at weekends from 1 Nov – 31 March. A few are also open on week days in the winter. Most have indoor education spaces or store/lunch rooms which can be used as learning bases for the day, and nearly all have toilets, parking and plenty of space to let off steam. Cafes and shops also offer well-deserved refreshments for teachers and helpers and souvenirs for all to remind them of what we hope will be long remembered as a happy and rewarding trips. Some shops even provide lunch or goody bags if pre-booked.

At some sites learners can track down significant sights and objects using GPS units. At others they can express their creativity with flip cameras loaned out to them during free entry visits. Costume and handling collections and activity bags are also being offered at an increasing number of sites, such as the interactive guide book and object collection at Warkworth Castle and our first traditional building methods pack at Launceston Castle.

New interactive heritage trails, designed to expand a site visit into a fulfilling day-long trip, are also being developed. These address teachers’ preferences for a full day covering environmental and other activities to make the most of school trips and offer the chance to undertake stimulating activities and develop new insights and skills while finding out about the changing face of towns. A trail for Whitby can already be downloaded and trails for Deal, Great Yarmouth and more will soon be available, aimed primarily at Key Stage 2-3 pupils.

To give teachers a break from having to do all the planning, some sites also offer interactive, expert-led Discovery Visits (£90 per group) which support national curriculum learning across a range of topics and key stages. These enable learners to experience life as royals, knights, monks, soldiers and servants or become history, maths, art or even garden detectives at actual Roman, medieval, Tudor and Victorian sites. Our feedback confirms that children develop enquiry, team building and communications skills and learn more from Discovery Visits than they do in the classroom. They like and remember the experience too – “The children enjoyed it; I learnt a lot as well. This was so real. It was excellent” (Year 6 teacher of a Discovery Visit at Pendennis Castle). “The best school trip ever” (learners on a Discovery Visit at Beeston Castle).

Even more ideas and inspiration can be found in our twice yearly online magazine, Heritage Learning and the 9,000 copyright-cleared free images and other activities on our website, ideal for use before and after visits.

For more information
To find about the education opportunities at our sites, check out www.english-heritage.org.uk/education
Our new centralised system should make booking a breeze. Book online at least 14 days in advance, phone 0870 333 0606 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it