School trips

Self-guided visit with a taught workshop

• Greeting in our Learning Centre, and coat and bag storage for the day
• Visit our free Galleries, Gardens, Animal Walk and Nature Trail with your group, at your own pace. We do not offer on-gallery tours.
• A hands-on workshop (45- 90 minutes) delivered by one of our fantastic Learning Officers (workshops are charged).
• Optional: timeslots in our Aquarium, Butterfly House and/or Temporary Exhibition (charged)
• Dedicated timeslot in our schools lunchroom

Self-Guided visit

• Coat and bag storage for the day
• Visit our free Galleries, Gardens, Animal Walk and Nature Trail with your group, at your own pace. We do not offer on-gallery tours.
• Optional: timeslots in our Aquarium, Butterfly House and/or Temporary Exhibition (charged)
• Where possible, we will offer you a dedicated timeslot in our schools lunchroom

The Horniman is well-known for our school workshops, with thousands of children and young people- from nursery to university groups- visiting each year.

Our workshops are curriculum and topic-linked, sensory, interactive and involve either object handling or outdoor learning

• We offer dedicated sensory sessions for learners in specialist school settings, home educated learners, and for university groups.
• Our workshops are very popular and tend to book-up a minimum of 3 months in advance, so early booking is advised

Planning

• We can accommodate one class of up to 35 learners in each of our workshops
• Our workshops run at set times, with up to two workshops running concurrently and up to six workshops a day
• Set lunch times and exhibition entry times (where applicable) are allocated to each workshop, to ensure we can accommodate all our groups across the day.
• Mainstream primary and secondary school workshops last between 60-90 minutes (information can be found on the individual workshop pages)
• Mainstream Early Years workshops last 45 minutes
• Sessions are delivered in our dedicated schools workshop spaces and do not include time in our galleries. Ensure you plan to spend time in the areas of our Museum connected to our topic as part of your self-guided time in the Museum.

Prices

• We charge for our workshops
• We offer a bursary scheme for our workshops, for schools meeting set criteria
• Some of our workshops include free timed entry to our paid exhibitions or attractions. Information about this can be found on the individual workshop pages

Prices including VAT:

Non-fee paying schools:

Mainstream workshops: £100

Specialist sensory workshops: £50

Gamelan music workshop: £152.40

Fee paying schools:

Mainstream workshops: £140

Specialist sensory workshops: £50

Gamelan music workshop: £152.40

The Museum’s main Galleries, Gardens and Animal Walk are free to visit, and there is plenty to see and do for free.

You can find out more about our spaces on our Around the Horniman webpages.

In addition, we offer reduced educational rates for our exhibitions and attractions.

• Tickets are timed and must be booked in advance through the Schools Team
• Prices are charged per person (children and adults)
• 1:1 support staff go free (notify us in advance)
• Prices include VAT
• We cannot offer educational rates on weekends or during school holidays
• These areas are not included in our bursary scheme

Prices

Aquarium: £1.50

Butterfly House: £2.50

Temporary Exhibition: £2.50

Aquarium + Exhibition Combo: £3.50

The Horniman is a place for everyone. During your visit, please help us to help us to make sure that everyone feels safe and welcome by following these guidelines:

Connection: Be kind to others

Use our shared spaces thoughtfully- whether you’re learning, playing, or resting- so that visitors, staff, and volunteers have the best experience.

Perspectives: Celebrate difference and diversity

Be curious and respectful when learning about people’s stories, backgrounds, culture, religion, and traditions.

Care: Take care of the Museum and Gardens

Many of the plants, animals and objects in our spaces are fragile, and all of them are special. Please only touch them when you are invited to.

Access: Move around safely

Our spaces are shared and can get busy and noisy.  Stay with your adults and group, follow signs, and be aware of others. Our Visitor Hosts are here to help!

Action: Join in and take part

Ask questions, share ideas, and enjoy learning something new.

Hope: Keep it tidy

Use recycling bins for your rubbish to help us look after the planet. Save food and drinks other than water for the lunch space or enjoy them in our Gardens.

Your actions make a difference.

Be respectful, open and friendly – this helps others do the same.

Thank you for helping make the Horniman a welcoming place for everyone.

Pre-Visits for teachers

We strongly recommend that teachers make a pre-visit to familiarise themselves with the site before your school visit.

• The Museum is open 7 days a week from 10am-5.30pm
• No need to book
• Teachers can access paid areas if it is relevant to your planning, just inform the reception desk when you arrive
• Read about our Galleries, Exhibitions, and Gardens on our webpages

Journey planning

We encourage schools to travel to the Museum via public transport where possible:

• London schools can apply for free travel through TfL’s Travel for Schools scheme
• The Museum is located a c.10minute walk uphill from Forest Hill Train and Overground (Windrush line) Station
• Bus stops for numerous bus routes are located right outside the Museum, with a pedestrian crossing for stops on the other side of London Road

Getting the most from your day

• Curriculum and topic-linked resources can be found on our resources pages. Printed copies are also available at the Museum
• We offer a range of resources, including sensory backpacks, to support learners with additional needs

Risk assessments and maps

Download key documents to plan your visit here:

• Self-led visit risk assessment (xlsx)
• Taught visit risk assessment (xlsx)
• Museum floor plan (pdf)
• Gardens map (pdf)

Find out here what to expect on the day of your visit.

Please note that, on a morning, we prioritise greeting and supporting groups with early workshops, to ensure that the day’s timetable runs smoothly. If you have a later workshop, or self-guided-only visit booked, we may ask you to wait while we welcome groups with early workshops.

 If you booked a workshop

• Arrive at the Museum from 10am, waiting at our schools meeting point by the main Museum entrance
• If you have booked for several classes from your school to visit at once, you can arrive together if you would like to do so.
• You’ll be greeted by a Learning Assistant who will:
  • Give a friendly welcome for your classes
  • Brief your group on safety
  • Direct you to the cloakroom, toilets and workshop space, and give you information about your lunchroom slot
  • Answer any questions you may have about your day
  • Give your printed copies of resources to support your visit
• Make your own way to your workshop and any booked areas at the correct time on your booking form

If you’ve booked a self-guided visit (without a workshop)

• Arrive at the Museum from 10am, waiting at our schools meeting point by the main Museum entrance
• A staff member will welcome you, answer your questions and show you where to leave coats and bags (and to your lunchroom, if applicable)
• Make your own way to any booked areas at the correct time on your booking form
• Ask our on-gallery team for help anytime

To ensure the best experience for everyone

• Learners- including secondary school students- must always be supervised during their visit
• Please be mindful of moving in larger groups through our spaces, and especially of younger visitors
• Food and drink (except water) should only be consumed in our lunchrooms, public outdoor picnic benches or Gardens. The café tables are for café customers only.
• Water refill stations are available in our Gardens, bring refillable bottles where possible to reduce waste.
• Groups of up to five learners can visit the shop at once. They should be accompanied by an adult.
• The Horniman is a public place so please remind students to respect other visitors, exhibits and staff. For health and safety reasons you must actively supervise your students at all times.

Toilets

• Our schools lunch room also has a number of toilets for sole use by school groups. These toilets can be crowded at lunch time, so we encourage schools to use the main Museum toilets at other times of the day.
• Accessible toilets are located in Gallery Square (down one level, via lift) and in our schools lunch room.
• Unfortunately, we do not currently have changing facilities with a hoist, but please do let us know in advance if any of your group requires a changing table; we would be happy to arrange this for you

Cloakroom and Lunchroom

• We offer coat and bag storage for all large, pre-book school groups
• We have dedicated slots in our lunchroom for all school groups visiting for workshops. To ensure the day runs smoothly, please ensure that you start and finish your slot promptly, and leave the space tidy for the next group.
• Where possible, we try to accommodate self-led groups in our school lunchroom. When space is not available, classes are welcome to eat in the Gardens or Dutch Barn building (close to the Animal Walk).
• Most schools choose to eat in our Gardens in warmer months, and you are very welcome to do the same!
• The Horniman has several water refill points; we encourage groups to bring refillable water bottles on their visit to reduce plastic waste.
• School groups should not use the café tables for picnicking and should not eat in the Museum as food attracts pests that damage our collections.