- Your responsibilities
- Risk Assessments
- Booking Your Visit
- Clothing and Bags
- Behaviour
- Education for All
- Teachers Resources
- Worksheets
- Pre-Visits
- Museum Shop
- Museum Cafe
- First Aid and Safety
- Child Protection
- Education Charter
- Objectives
We have endeavoured to provide you with all of the information we think you need for a stress free and enjoyable day. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to email us at educationcoam@btconnect.com.
- Ensure that you have undertaken a pre-visit
The Museum is quite large and you will not be able to visit everything during your visit. Therefore, a pre-visit allows you to highlight which buildings you would like to see, where your activity and lunch venues will be and how long it will take you to get to each venue. It will also help you to complete your own risk assessment.
Please check, sign and return your booking form to the Education Officer; this confirms all of the arrangements for your visit. It is also your responsibility to complete your own risk assessment, although we have produced some information to help you with this (see next section). Please remember to pass the invoice to your bursar.
- Ensure that you have informed us about any special educational needs
Depending on the type of special educational needs, some activity workshops may need to change venue to allow for special mobility and/or wheelchair access, while other activity workshops may require additional equipment. By being informed in advance of any special educational needs (we do not need to know particulars), we can ensure that additional facilities can be arranged and that the best Museum Teacher for your group is booked.
- Ensure that parents are provided with information so that their child's day is enjoyable
Included on the CD-Rom is a welcome letter. This letter is designed to provide children and their parents with information about the visit. It is essential that parents are reminded to ensure that children wear suitable clothing to keep them warm and dry. There is nothing worse to spoil a child's day than if their parent has forgotten to give them a coat when visiting the Museum in winter!
- Ensure that you know your adult helpers
Choose your adult helpers with care and know which children will be in their groups. Discuss with them the areas you wish to visit at the Museum and provide them with a map and information from the resource pack. Discuss with them behaviour that you deem acceptable, both for them and the children in their group. Your adult helpers represent your school and are responsible both for the safety and behaviour of the children in their groups and also for helping the children to get the most from their day, including in any activity workshops.
- Ensure that you telephone the Museum Office if you are going to be late
If the coach doesn't arrive on time or you get stuck in traffic then please let us know. If we know, we can alter timings to try and ensure that the children will be able to take part in the activity workshops that you have booked (although this can not always be guaranteed).
- Ensure that the Museum Teachers and Volunteers are treated with respect
Museum Teachers and Volunteers provide a valuable service by ensuring that your group are kept safe during your visit and to help the children have an enjoyable day. They will provide guidance to you and your group but do not take responsibility for the behaviour of your group. During the activity workshops Museum Teachers will ask the children to undertake different tasks and to sit or stand in certain places, etc. and we ask you to support our Teachers as we will support you.
- Ensure that your group behaves in a way that enhances your school's reputation
Your school will have a charter on student's behaviour; please ensure that your group is aware that, although the visit is not as structured as in the classroom, the same rules apply.
- Ensure that children are provided with the opportunity to explore and achieve
Many children will require their group leader's help during activity workshops, whether this is aiding them in using tools or just by providing them with encouragement and praise. The children will also want to explore the buildings and surrounding areas and will ask questions about what they see and feel. Museum Teachers and volunteers will be able to help you answer some of these questions but much of the information is provided in the Teacher's Resource Pack.
- Ensure that the children are rewarded for excellent behaviour and results
During any activity workshop that you undertake there will be plenty of opportunities for the children to be praised; if you have a points system at school then this could be used during your visit as a reward for excellent behaviour, a really intelligent question/answer or producing a brilliant piece of work. Alternatively, if behaviour is not particularly good, etc. then a pre-arranged system of dealing with this situation should be implemented.
- Ensure that Mobile Phones are switched off during activity workshops
Children do become distracted from the activities provided when mobile phones ring during workshops, therefore we ask that they are either switched off or set on silent mode.
- Ensure that you respect the Museum and it's collections
The Museum is located within 45-acres of parkland and woodland within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is the home of both wild animals and is a working farm with rare breeds. We, therefore, request that your group follow the Countryside Code. Free educational resources regarding the Countryside Code can be found at www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk.
We also ask that bags are not taken into our buildings as the vernacular nature of the Museum's collection of buildings is such that there is very limited room within the buildings themselves. The buildings are also furnished with original artefacts to enhance your visit and we ask that, unless permission has been granted, you do not handle any artefacts.
Some areas of the Museum are behind barriers, this is for your safety as well as the safety of our artefacts and we would like to request that you and your children do not go past any barriers that we have put in place.
- Ensure that you keep to your timetables
The Museum will provide you with a timetable for your activity workshops booked and we ask that you ensure that your class arrives at the workshop venues at the correct time. The Museum can have up to 300 school children visiting at any one time and, as such, we can not guarantee that you will receive a full and rewarding activity workshop if your class arrives late to the venues.
- Ensure that you respect other visitors
The Museum can have up to 300 school children with other groups and adult visitors visiting at any one time. We ask that you and your children respect other visitors at the Museum, especially when other schools are taking part in activity workshops which they have pre-booked. We also ask that you do not use the picnic tables in front of the cafe for your lunches as these are reserved for other visitors to the Museum, with alternative lunching venues pre-booked for each school.
It is your responsibility to produce a risk assessment for your visit. However, to aid you with this task, we have prepared the following:
- Download a copy of our Health and Safety Policy.
- Download a copy of our Public Liability Insurance Certificate
To provisionally book your visit, please contact the Education Office and ensure that you have the following details ready:
- The name and address of your school
- Your school telephone number
- The date you would like to visit (plus some secondary dates in case that date is unavailable)
- Number and year group of children
- Which activity workshops you would like to take part in (if applicable)
Or complete the provisional booking form and some one will contact you to confirm the booking.
Visits can be provisionally booked by telephone or by filling in the provisonal booking form below. You will then be sent a booking form and invoice for the date(s) agreed. By returning the top copy of the booking form the visit is confirmed.
To make a provisional booking or to discuss any aspect of a school visit please contact the Education Office on 01494 875542 or e-mail educationcoam@btconnect.com
Once a booking is made an information pack will be sent to you, which contains a booking form, invoice, terms and conditions of booking and the Teacher's Resource Pack CD-Rom.
- Children should wear sensible footwear - welly boots or trainers.
- In very cold weather children should wear 2 pairs of socks, a hat and gloves to keep them warm.
- Children should have a waterproof, warm coat, especially during the winter months.
- Children should wear clothes that they do not mind getting dirty; we recommend that if your school policy is to wear uniform at all times that a compromise should be made and that children could wear jeans or tracksuit bottoms with their school jumper.
- Children should wear a sun hat and bring an extra drink in very hot weather.
Please ensure that your group is suitably prepared for their visit to the Museum and that parents are reminded of the following requirements:
The Museum is a 45 acre site and therefore children, especially Early Years and Key Stage 1 pupils, can become tired carrying a bag or lunch box around all day. We would recommend that lunches are brought in bags that are disposable (paper bags would be best as they are bio-degradable). These bags should be clearly labelled.
A welcome letter for parents and children is included on the CD-Rom provided upon booking.
Please ensure that your group behaves in a way that enhances your school's reputation. Your school will have a charter on student's behaviour, please ensure that your group is aware that, although the visit is not as structured as in the classroom, the same rules apply.
Your adult helpers behaviour is also your responsibility so please discuss with them behaviour that you deem acceptable, both for them and the children in their group. Your adult helpers represent your school and are responsible both for the safety and behaviour of the children in their groups and also for helping the children to get the most from their day, including in any activity workshops.
We also ask that your group, both adults and children, show respect to Museum Teachers and volunteers.
All of our Museum teachers work within an agreed code of behaviour, a copy of which is available from the Education Office.
We are committed to providing an inclusive environment for all groups visiting the Museum and are constantly looking at ways that we can improve in the future.
We do, however, ask for your help. Some of the activity workshops require adapting for certain special educational needs, which can include additional equipment, a change of venue or just another pair of hands. However if we do not know of any particular needs that your students have (for example wheelchair access or additional tools to aid manipulation of materials) then we can not guarantee that these facilities will be available on the day of your visit. Therefore, we would like to ask that you either contact the Education Officer to discuss any requirements or that you download and complete the short questionnaire provided on the CD-Rom.
Carers for children with special educational needs are free of charge (and not included within the 1 adult to every 6 children ratio) and they are there to aid that child to gain an enjoyable and rewarding visit.
Within each booking pack is a CD-Rom, which contains the Teachers' Resource Pack, a Welcome Letter for parents, worksheets and information packs on each of the activity workshops available. These are also available to download from this website. We also have a Travel and Tourism Case Study about the Museum available for purchase from the Education Office.
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We recommend that all teachers accompanying a school visit should take advantage of a FREE preliminary visit. These visits can be made at anytime that the Museum is open to the public (except during certain special events). If a visit is booked during November, February or March then a pre-visit must be pre-arranged with the Education Office and can only be held Monday to Friday during these months.
The Museum is quite large and you will not be able to do everything during your visit. Therefore, a pre-visit allows you to highlight which buildings you would like to see, where your activity and lunch venues will be and how long it will take you to get to each venue. It will also help you to complete your own risk assessment.
The Museum Shop is open during your visit (except during November, February and March where this service needs to be pre-booked). The shop is run by Museum volunteers and is limited in space, therefore we ask that only a maximum of 12 children are allowed into the shop at any time (including other school groups) and that they are adequately supervised by your adult helpers. To ensure that children can purchase a variety of items we recommend that children bring around £2.00 with them.
If you would prefer not to use the shop, then a variety of souvenir packs are available for pre-order. An order form is included in your booking pack.
Don't forget there might be items in the shop that can tempt you or enhance your classroom.
The Museum Cafe is open during the public season only, from 11.00 am until 4.00 pm, and hot or cold drinks, sandwiches, drinks and ice creams are available. If your group would like to use the cafe, please let us know in advance, especially if you would like to buy your class ice creams. Due to a lack of space we ask that a maximum of 5 children are allowed in the cafe at any time and that they are adequately supervised by your adult helpers.
We would also like to ask that the picnic tables outside the cafe are not used by school groups as they are there for general visitors to the Museum and designated lunching facilities for schools are provided.
Hot and Cold drinks are also available in the Museum Shop.
The Museum cafe can provide pre-ordered picnic lunch for your visit.
Although the Museum always has a first aider on duty, we would like to ask that a first aider accompanies your group (with an adequate first aid kit) as you will be in a better position to help a child that you already know. We are happy to support your staff in the case of an accident or an illness.
All accidents and illnesses must be reported to a member of Museum personnel, especially if a parent is called to collect a child. If an ambulance is required a member of Museum Staff will contact the emergency services on your behalf, please do not call an ambulance yourself. Remember - Museum volunteers are the first people a parent or paramedic will meet and they need to know where you are! Special arrangements will need to be made for ambulance access to the Museum.
All of our Museum Teachers and volunteers that work with children at the Museum have a valid CRB Disclosure certificate. We also follow a Museum Code of Behaviour: All of our Museum Teachers and volunteers work within an agreed code of behaviour:
Click here to download a pdf copy of the Museums Child Protection Policy |
During visits to the Museum we will encourage schools and groups to:
During visits to the Museum our personnel will:
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The Museum's Principle Aims and Objectives Chiltern Open Air Museum Policy statements: "To be the centre of excellence for the interpretation of the built heritage of the Chilterns" To create an enjoyable learning environment through a wide range of interpretative provision that allows the Museum to meet its formal and non-formal interpretative objectives. Principal Objectives:
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