SEND school visits to Norwich Castle

We're delighted to welcome SEND school groups to Norwich Castle. We know that every group is different, so if you decide to book a visit we'll work with you to tailor events for your students. Please see below for more information about what we can offer.

Topics

The current topic areas that we can support are:

Medieval
Romans and Iceni
Prehistory
Ancient Egypt
Anglo-Saxons and Vikings

Each workshop will last around an hour and cost £50. They will incorporate a sensory focus as suits the needs of your group, lots of active participation and will include a mix of object-handling and storytelling.

We're always working to develop the inclusivity of our schools offer and would love to hear from you on ways we can continue to improve and develop our provision. If there's a topic not mentioned above that you're interested in, please do get in touch and we will see if we can accommodate it. We are also working on expanding our offer, so keep an eye on this page for updates!

If you think your group would be happy and confident at one of our mainstream school events, we'd be pleased for you to take part. Please note that other schools will be attending at the same time, and you'll share the introduction and plenary sessions with them, though the other sessions will be just your group.

You can also make self-guided visits (these must also be booked in advance). Pre-booked self-guided visits in term-time are free for Norfolk schools. For schools outside Norfolk, it's £2.40 per student.

Information, inquiries and booking

If you'd like to book one of our events, please call 01603 493636 or email [email protected], and have the following information to hand:

The name and postcode of your school
Your class size
The pupils' year group(s) (this is for our monitoring)
The number of accompanying adults
The event you're interested in, or whether you'd like a self-guided visit
Which half-term/term you'd like to visit
Details of access or learning needs. We'll contact you to discuss further
For facilitated visits, the approximate level that your pupils are working at
Whether you'd like a space to eat packed lunches (subject to availability)

Finding out more about you

If you book for a facilitated visit, we want to ensure that we're offering the best possible experience for the pupils or young people in your group. To help with that, we'll contact you before your trip to discuss the needs of individuals in your group. We can discuss over the phone or via email, whichever is easiest for you. To get you thinking, the kind of questions we might ask about the members of your group include:

What are their strengths? What are they really good at?
Are there any particular dos or don'ts we should be aware of?
Any particular sensory preferences? (For example: Is anyone particularly visual-seeking or unsure of particular tactile experiences?)
Is there anything any individual pupils find particularly challenging?
Are there any particular approaches used in your setting which work really well for individuals in your group? (For example: Visual timetables, opportunities to get up about and move, regular sensory breaks, key phrases etc?)
What approximate level are individuals in your group working at academically?
Is there anything else you feel it is important for anyone working with your group to know?

Access information

If your group includes wheelchair users, please keep the following in mind:

We can accommodate up to five wheelchair users at a time above the ground floor across the entire site, including the Keep. This number includes all museum visitors. There are bookable timeslots for wheelchair users, so you may need to wait for an available timeslot to visit the Keep and other galleries on the first floor. If you booked through [email protected], you will be advised of your timeslot.
In the main museum, in the event of an emergency and a wheelchair user is unable to walk, they'll need to either transfer to an evac chair or wait at a refuge point. This helps us evacuate the building safely. Please note that the lifts in the main museum do not work during an emergency.
In the Castle Keep, the lift will stay in use during an emergency. A staff member will operate it. Please wait by the lift and let the staff member know you're there. They'll take you down in the lift, which has the capacity for one wheelchair user at a time. The fire exit is in the basement.

We have accessible toilets on the ground, first, and second floors. There's also a Changing Place on the ground floor, which you can access with a radar key. If you don't have one, just ask a staff member for help.

COVID-19

If any member of your group is at a higher COVID-19 risk and you would like to discuss possible accommodations, please contact us in advance of your visit at 01603 493636 or [email protected].

Resources

There are free resources available for a number of our school events. These are aimed at the listed Key Stage, so you may wish to adapt them to support the needs of your group. View free resources.