Arrival
A member of our staff will meet your coach when you
arrive and show the driver where to park. They will confirm with you numbers
of children and adults in your group and arrangements for the day. There
will be other vehicles driving and parking in the area. Payment is by
invoice after the visit. Cheques should be payable to “Weald and Downland
Open Air Museum”. When leaving the Museum please exit through the Museum
shop.
Access
For specific access requirements for children with
disabilities, please call 01243 811459.
Toilets
The Museum has 3 toilet blocks on site (see Museum
map).
Lunches
Picnics can be eaten anywhere outside on the site.
If the weather is bad, the Schools Services Manager will endeavour to
arrange for you to eat under cover, and provide you with bag and coat
storage. Please use the bins provided for your rubbish and make sure no
waste is left on the floor. The Museum does have a Café if you anticipate
using this facility please call in advance to check its opening times.
Museum shop
There are plenty of small items suitable for school
children to purchase in the Museum shop, a minimum of £3.00 per child is
recommended for children to spend. It would be very helpful if children
could come into the shop in small groups, and we suggest they make use of
their lunch break or 'free' time during the day so that visits to the shop
are staggered.
Clothing
Please make sure the children in your care are
suitably dressed for an outdoor site, with uneven surfaces. It is
particularly important in winter months or wet weather that they should be
warmly clothed, that they bring waterproofs, and that they wear sturdy
shoes.
Buildings
Some of our buildings can get overcrowded. Please
move around in small groups and have a flexible timetable so you can avoid
delays to your day. You may be asked to wait outside some of our buildings
until more space is available inside. We do apologise in advance if you have
to wait.
Cooking workshops
If you have booked a cooking workshop, could you
please advise us in advance if there are any pupils with food allergies and
any pupils with dietary requirements.
Safety
It must be emphasised that this is a working,
outdoor site – you may encounter horse drawn carts operating around the
site. Please brief all adults and children prior to the visit and on arrival
that children should treat our site and its visitors with respect.
Accompanying adults are responsible for the behaviour of the children, and
should supervise their children at all times to ensure their safety. Any
group whose behaviour leads to the inconvenience of other visitors, or
contravenes Health and Safety guidelines outlined in this information sheet,
will be asked to leave at once.
Visitors should not:
- enter livestock pens or fenced fields
- climb on machinery, carts, wood, hay or straw
stacks
Any touching of livestock should only be done under
the supervision of a member of Museum staff (see below for specific
recommendations).
Click here for the current HSE advice on visits to open farms.
Suggestions to help with your planning
- You can download a Museum map from our website,
please ask all your adult helpers to familiarise themselves with the
layout of the Museum, your timetable and your risk assessment. Please make
sure all group leaders have a copy of the map.
- You should carry a list of the pupils and
supervisors in your party, and carry out a head count at regular
intervals. All pupils should know the name of their school and the name of
their ‘Group Leader’.
- If possible carry a mobile telephone and ensure
you have the relevant numbers in case of emergency. Please take note;
mobile phone signal is poor at the Museum. Vodafone tariff is the most
reliable one to use.
- You should instruct pupils or staff who get lost
to report to the Museum shop. Likewise, you should report any pupil who
goes missing to a member of Museum staff.
- Should you require emergency assistance please
report to any member of Museum staff. Should you need to use a Landline
phone these are available in the following locations – Education Room
(upstairs) map ref. 32 & Museum Shop map ref. 1. Please ask a member of
staff before using a landline phone.
- You should be aware of any medical problems or
allergies/dietary requirements that your pupils have and you should make
sure all cuts and abrasions they have are covered with waterproof
plasters.
- It is recommended that you have in your group an
approved ‘first aid kit, and a qualified first aid person. Should you
require emergency treatment, a trained first aid person will be on site
during your visit – please request for the Museum trained first aid person
at the Museum shop.
- You should ensure that you are familiar with your
own school guidelines and guidelines issued by your LEA. You should have
the appropriate insurance cover for such school visits. The Museum carries
Public Liability Insurance up to £10 million.
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