Essential Information

All school or group visits (including self-led visits) must be booked in advance, please contact the venue directly to do this. Alternatively please use our online workshop enquiry form.

When you enquire about a visit please have the following information to hand:

• Name and address of school
• Contact Name
• Telephone number
• Email address
• LA
• Number of pupils & year group
• Preferred dates
• Packed lunch requirements
• Access requirements
• Are you using this visit to support Arts Award ?

Entry to all our venues is free. However charges apply on all our facilitated workshops in venue and those taking place in school. Charges will be clearly communicated to you by the learning team when you make your enquiry.

Bespoke workshops can be delivered in school, please contact the learning team directly with your request to discuss details.

Self led visits are free and downloadable resources to use when visiting the venue are available to download for free from here.

All facilitated workshops must be paid for in advance of the booked workshop taking place. Payment can be made in two ways. Newcastle City Council schools must use a Journal request and all other organisations will pay by invoice.

Invoice – Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums will invoice your school for activities you have booked. If you are using this method of payment please email the completed ‘Facilitated Workshop/Visit Confirmation Form’ with the following information:

• School name
• Full address including postcode
• Point of contact (this is usually your school business manager or member of the administration team)
• Purchase order number (if this is required by your organisations financial procedures).

Newcastle City Council Journal request - If you are required to use this method of payment please email the completed ‘Facilitated Workshop/Visit Confirmation Form’ with the following information:

• School name
• Point of contact (this is usually your school business manager or member of administrator team)
• Cost Code and Sub Code

A member of the venue learning team will contact you as soon as possible; we aim to reply within 5 working days, either by email or phone. The staff member will highlight the options available to you and discuss the details of your visit.

Confirmation - Once this has happened you will receive a ‘booking’ email. Check the details on here thoroughly and read the attached terms and conditions. If all the information is correct and you want to confirm the booking send back the ‘Facilitated Workshop/Visit Confirmation Form’ within five working days as confirmation.

Failure to confirm your booking within five working days will mean your booking will be cancelled and the slot given to another group.

If you have to cancel a booking please contact the venue immediately to arrange an alternative date.

If Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums have to cancel and no agreeable alternative is found or re-scheduling is not possible a refund will be offered.

If bad weather or other circumstances result in the school closing so that the visit cannot take place, the session will be re-arranged or an alternative found where possible. Refunds will not be offered in this instance.

Pre-booked workshops vary in length from 30 minutes to all day, the duration of each workshop is stated on all material related to the workshop and will be communicated to you when you book your visit. Many schools take advantage of our packed lunch spaces and spend a full day at the venue combining a workshop with a free self led visit.

Yes! We highly recommend you make a preliminary visit to help you get the most out of your trip, especially if you are on a self-led visit. The Learning Team are happy to discuss your visit with you, ensuring you and your pupils get the most from it. Please contact them directly for more information on the resources available or to arrange a meeting to discuss your requirements.

Unfortunately we do not have a Risk Assessment you can download, as the Department of Education's publication 'Safe Keeping' states, ‘the group leader should carry out a risk assessment’. However each venue has a Hazard Identification Sheet which, along with your preliminary visit, will help you write your risk assessment.

The Hazard Identification Sheet can be downloaded here:
Hazard Identification Form.

 For further help please contact the venue Learning Team directly.

There is no restriction on the number of adults you can bring on a visit, however we expect all visiting groups to follow current guidelines appropriate for the age and needs of their individual group. It is your responsibility to ensure your pupils safety and conduct whilst visiting the venue. We suggest you prepare your pupils and adult helpers for the visit, ensuring a valuable and enjoyable experience for all.

Please ask the venue Learning Team for specific information if you need to discuss ratios.

To help you prepare for your visit you can download our Planning and Managing Group Visits guidance.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums actively try to make our venues as safe as possible. However, our venues (especially outdoor sites) can still be hazardous. Members of staff are always onsite to ensure, as far as possible the safety of visitors. However, ultimately your pupils are your responsibility, never leave them unsupervised.

Please ensure that your pupils are suitably dressed and are wearing appropriate footwear for the weather and activities they are participating in.

On arrival, groups should sign in at the desk in the entrance and staff will assist with bag storage (please note that this storage is not secure, please do not leave any valuable items). We recommend group leaders familiarise themselves with the museum before the visit because it is a large building. If you have pre-booked a schools workshop a member of the Learning Team will meet you.

Two lunch spaces are available at Discovery Museum. Due to high demand all visiting groups must book a lunch space when making their booking. Confirmation of your lunch space booking will be sent to you on request for a self led visit and automatically included on the documentation for a facilitated session.

Yes there is a shop. We ask that a maximum of 10 children, with a supervising adult visit at any one time to help ensure a quick and efficient visit to the shop.

All our venues have accessible male and female toilets.

We have a range of Resources and Downlaods available here: Downloads

To ensure you are up to date with the latest opportunities from TWAM make sure you sign up to our e-flyer on the homepage of Schools Online.

TWAM also regularly hosts free twilight teacher CPD sessions both in school and in venue. These sessions include CPD sessions which are subject specific and linked to specific exhibitions.

Discovery Museum is a five minute walk from Newcastle Central station where national and local rail services depart as well as the Tyne & Wear Metro service and local bus services also operate from here. The museum is well signposted from the station. Head west along Neville Street/Westmorland Road and you can't miss us.

There is limited pay and display parking available directly outside the museum in Blandford Square, but this tends to fill very quickly.

Mini-bus and coach parking can be located on Ord Street, near Newcastle Arena. You can find out more about parking in Newcastle on the following link: 

https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-transport/parking/car-parks-and-on-street-parking