School Visits

Are you looking for more opportunities for your pupils to learn in a cross-curricular way?

Do your pupils study World War Two, the Victorians, famous people, transport, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the History of Swindon, Seaside Holidays, Toys, Childhood or Homes in the Past?

At STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, our Programme for Schools has been designed with particular QCA History Units in mind but all of our sessions also involve immersive learning and promote the development of cross-curricular skills through role-play, handling original objects and story telling using characters and costume.

STEAM Education has been awarded the Campaign for Learning Ouside the Classroom Quality Badge.

We aim to promote the following cross-curricular Learning Outcomes:

Skills

Learning and thinking skills e.g. investigating, descriptive, reflective, speculative and creative thinking, generating ideas, reasoning, problem solving, using imagination, communicating, enquiring, speaking, and questioning, object analysis, interrogating and interpreting objects. Social skills e.g. listening and responding, working with others and taking turns.

Attitudes and Values

Self-esteem and confidence, cultural understanding and tolerance, feelings and perceptions, empathy and motivation.

Enjoyment, Inspiration and Creativity

Having fun and being surprised, being creative and having innovative thoughts, exploring and experimenting, being inspired, fulfilment and satisfaction.

All School Sessions and Themed Experiences are delivered by Education Officers who are qualified teachers, experienced at all Key Stages and in Special Needs.

All teacher materials to support a visit to STEAM can be found on the Planning Your School Visit page of the website. These include our 'Standard Teachers' Pack', 'WW2 Support Materials', 'We'll Meet Again Support Materials' and 'Risk Assessments and Health and Safety Guidelines'. Further benefits for schools include free coach parking with drop off point right outside the Museum, designated and secure cloakrooms for bags, coats and lunches, free use of our purpose built lunch area for school groups and free Teacher Preliminary Visits after booking.

Some school-based interactive sessions are also available for Swindon Borough Council schools.

Further Information and How to Book

To find out more or to make a booking call 01793 466640 or e-mail steameducation@swindon.gov.uk

There are some answers to frequently asked questions by teachers on the Teachers' FAQs page of the website.

Please note that during September and October and during the first two weeks of every new term, we experience an extremely high volume of phonecalls concerning school bookings and potential visits. PLEASE check the Teachers' FAQs page before you call.

If you reach voicemail it means all lines are busy.  Please leave one message only with a name and phone number and we will return calls in strict date received order.  This may take up to a week. Phone calls take priority over emails at these busy times.

.