Educational Visits

Dive into an award winning learning experience like no other with our range of educational tours and learning sessions for all ages.

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Educational tours and learning for all ages

The award-winning Historic Dockyard Chatham provides an exciting and memorable learning journey for pupils of all ages.

Set in an impressive 80 acre complex, the Historic Dockyard provides a rich, authentic and varied learning environment, ideal for educational workshops and a wide range of school group sizes, from small classes to year groups*.

Packed with enormous, historic buildings to ignite the imagination, the Dockyard has ships to explore and galleries full of fascinating artefacts and stories to discover.

*on a self-directed visit

Planing your school visit

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a remarkable place. It is a place that lets you explore a complete dockyard from the heyday of the Age of Sail and beyond. It offers unrivaled access to ships that helped shape the world, and the stories of the people who made them. It’s a place of fun and fascination. Of surprising discoveries. Of stirring tales of boldness and daring. A place like no other.

Choose your perfect visit

educational tours

SELF-GUIDED VISITS

Research the Dockyard and guide your own groups around our historic site. A walkthrough of HM Submarine OCELOT can be pre-arranged on booking if requested. The Ropery can be pre-booked as a taught activity but cannot be guaranteed as a public or group tour on the day.

GUIDED VISITS

Take advantage of the services of one of our Learning team guides for the day as you explore the Historic Dockyard. A walkthrough of HM Submarine OCELOT can be pre-arranged on booking if requested. The Ropery can be pre-booked as a taught activity but cannot be guaranteed as a full tour on the day.

BESPOKE DAYS

Select one, two or three of our taught activities at £75 each for a class of up to 35. Select from our Special Packages, self-guide your free time or add a guide and build your perfect day.

Our bespoke learning service

Let us design your perfect itinerary, combining a programme of experiences and activities to meet your learning objectives and students’ needs. We can provide as much or as little facilitation as you require for your visit.

Here is a sample itinerary for a group of 30 students:

10:00

Arrival and briefing

10:15

Walkthrough tour of submarine HM Submarine OCELOT

10:45

Comfort break

11:00

Air Powered Rocket Activity

12:00

Tour of Second World War Destroyer, HMS CAVALIER

13:00

Lunch (indoor area available)

13:30

Rope making activity and Ropery Tour

14:30

Depart

Benefits to Learning Groups

Bag & lunch storage and dedicated indoor lunch space
Friendly staff available to talk to by phone
Only pay for the students you bring on the day
Free adult places (1:6 for reception to year 2, 1:10 for year 3 and above)*
Free teacher pre-visits
Hazard awareness information provided to assist with your risk assessment.
No hidden costs: free parking for coaches and mini buses, indoor and outdoor play and lunch areas.

*Flexible free staffing ratios for Special needs groups and groups with students requiring individual care.

We are pleased to offer free visits to teachers interested in making a booking for a school visit. Please contact us for your free tickets.

Prices

Self directed visit

£7.00 per pupil

Facilitated visit with submarine walk through and ropery tour

£8.50 per pupil

Fully guided day with a submarine walk through and ropery tour

£10.00 per pupil

Taught activity sessions

£75.00 per class of 30 (1 hour)

One adult free for every 10 pupils (every 6 pupils in Year R -2)

Free (additional staff pay the pupil entrance price)

Educational Tours and Learning

Activity Sessions

EYFS & KS1

KS2

KS3/4

Overseas Visitors

Digital Learning Resource

Arts Award & Artsmark

Overnight Stays

100 Objects

Home Educators

Home Educators can take advantage of the Learning Rates and Programmes by visiting with other Home Educator families.

You will need a group of 15 school aged children minimum. Adults pay the pupil rate. Children under 5 have free entry. Families with annual tickets also have free entry.

This offer is for term time only and cannot be extended to school holidays or weekends.

To book a visit contact learning@chdt.org.uk

We look forward to welcoming our Home Educated families to The Historic Dockyard Chatham.

We are running a dedicated Home Educator Day on Friday 10th November. Why not come and join us?

FIND OUT MORE & BOOK

Award winning programmes

Winners of The Sanford Award

The Sandford Award is an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums, archives and collections across the British Isles. It reflects the excellence of the sessions delivered by the team.

In the 2023 assessment, the lead judge said: “The Historic Dockyard Chatham Learning Team deliver an exciting and inspiring programme. They provide hands-on experiences for students that cannot be delivered in the classroom and workshops are led by highly skilled and knowledgeable facilitators. All of the sessions have clear curriculum links and learning objectives, and schools will experience engaging activities that enhance their students’ learning. The service has continued to maintain extremely high standards since the Award was last granted in 2018. It offers an outstanding learning programme and a truly memorable experience for those who visit.”

ACCESSIBILITY

Our learning programmes are accessible for all and we are happy to work with you to ensure we meet the needs of your group.

We have developed detailed access information for all of our galleries and open spaces which you may like to review ahead of your visit. We are also Changing Places registered and have a dedicated facility.

Access information

Get in touch

Please use the form below to tell us as much as you can about the visit you’re planning and a member of our learning team will contact you to discuss your plans in more detail.