Education Service Accessibility Statement

Chiltern Open Air Museum is a museum of buildings in 45 acres of parkland and woodland.

The Museum is working towards improving access and facilities for people of all ages and abilities.

School groups containing one or a few children with special needs should be aware of the following provisions and should notify the Education Office of any requirements before the visit. For example: extra time may be needed for moving around the site, Museum Interpreters need to know of any learning difficulties and some activities requiring fine manipulation may need to be adapted. All adults accompanying special needs children are admitted free of charge and teachers are encouraged to bring adequate extra helpers for these children.

All groups will need supervision and differing levels of help from the adult helpers throughout the visit, during both a general visit to the Museum and pre-booked activity workshops. Activity workshops will not take place for any class if the group’s adult helpers are not present.

With the exception of the woodland walk, our gravel and grass paths are accessible for all users, although they are over rough terrain and varying gradients, with grass pathways regularly mown to aid mobility. Full accessibility for some paths is weather dependent. A map indicating suitable pathways is available by request. If a group member(s) requires wheelchair access, the pathway through the Victorian farmyard is the most suitable due to the nature of the path surface and the opportunity to ‘rest’ in the farm’s stockyard. The Museum strongly recommends that all teachers visit the Museum, free of charge, before their school visit to plan their route carefully.

The distance directly from one end of the site to the other is about half a mile.

Access to each building differs and, as historic buildings, some are quite small. Good group management by yourself and helpers is therefore required. Where practical, buildings are provided with ramps. However, some buildings have difficult or limited access; for example the entry to Rossway Granary is up a flight of four open steps.

Currently there are two toilet blocks at the Museum, Caversham Public Convenience (at the entrance) and Haversham Toilets (near Wood End Café). Caversham Public Convenience has one men’s and one women’s cubicle adapted for disabled use and accommodates most standard wheelchairs (though not the large powered chairs). There is also one large cubicle in the Ladies’ side of Haversham Toilets.

Adult wheelchairs are available (at the Ticket Office/Shop) that can be pre-booked if required; however no child-sized wheelchairs are available.

Access information for buildings used during your school visit programme

Please note that the information provided within the Resource Pack is for areas generally accessible to the public. Barriers are in place in some buildings (for both your group’s safety and for artefact conservation) and your group should not enter these areas.

Please discuss your individual needs with the Education Officer when booking your visit. Alternative access provision can be arranged for children with visual impairments to provide a more tactile experience within the Museum buildings.

Full details of access provision to the buildings you will visit at the Museum will be included within your Resource Pack or click here for further details.

Many children with special needs have enjoyed all of the activity workshops that the Museum offers within the school visit service. All children are made to feel included and are helped to achieve in all the activities with many groups surprising their helpers by the determination and success of each child.

When an activity workshop is being booked it is essential that any specific special requirements are identified to enable the Education Officer to adapt the activity to the children’s specific needs. This includes ensuring that the most appropriate Museum activities and Interpreters are provided for your group.

Teachers and adult helpers are required to aid all groups during any activity workshop booked.

Museum Interpreters are able to wear portable hearing loop microphones if a school group both requires and provides such equipment. A one-to-one hearing helper pack is available from the Education Service on loan by prior arrangement.

Full details of access provision to the activity workshops you will undertake at the Museum will be included within your booking pack.