Newcastle Castle School Trip

Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1RQ

A visit to Newcastle Castle will help pupils develop a deeper understanding of history and will put what you teach about in the classroom into context.

We provide a range of hands on activities, talks, and the opportunity for bespoke workshops to bring history to life.

Whatever their age, your group will find an amazing learning experience at Newcastle Castle.

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What activities are available during educational visits?

We cater for Primary, Secondary, and Colleges and Universities.

For Primary and Secondary schools we offer a whole host of workshops that cover topics from the Black Death to Fairy Tales, which can all be tailored to suit your curriculum and teaching. All these workshops include hands on learning activities, and the opportunity for a tour around the Castle Keep.

Typically, schools book a full day or a half day. A full day visit would usually consist of a guided tour of the Castle site and the Keep for half a day, and then one of our range of workshops for the other half a day. Workshops usually take place indoors in the Harbottle Suite in the Black Gate. On a full day visit you would normally have a half hour lunch break in between each session, also in the Harbottle Suite.
A half day visit can either be a guided tour or a workshop, but if you’re only visiting for half a day we would usually deliver the workshop in the Castle Keep so that you don’t miss out!

For Colleges and Universities we offer more focused sessions for particular courses and topics. We can also include an introductory tour or self led tour.

Which curriculum topics do we cater for?

Medieval School Trip

Norman Conquest Medieval Society and Feudalism Religion and Crusades Magna Carta and Parliament Black Death and Medicine Peasants Revolt Castles Battle of Hastings

Newcastle Castle has one of the finest surviving examples of a medieval Castle Keep in the country. Enjoy a complete tour of the walls, moat, turrets and arrow slits of the outer walls before exploring the Great Hall and Dungeon of the Keep itself. We also offer a range of medieval workshops including hands-on activities like medieval dance, sword fighting and armour handling, designed for Key Stage 1 classes studying Castles, Key Stage 2 groups studying the Norman Invasion and Key Stage 3 groups studying Medieval Realms.

Local History School Trip

Newcastle Castle is the building that gave its name to Newcastle Upon Tyne, so where better to learn about the local history of the city than the Castle? We offer a workshop on the history of Newcastle where we use drama, roleplay, artefact handling activities and a quiz to teach children about the Romans, the Normans, Tudor merchants, the plague and Civil War and the Great Fire of Gateshead and Newcastle. We also work alongside St Mary's Heritage Centre in Gateshead to offer a special workshop on the Great Fire and a tour of Newcastle and Gateshead Quayside.

Tudors School Trip

Civil War Henry VIII Crime and Punishment

Working alongside Bessie Surtees House on Newcastle's Quayside we are able to offer a full day experience exploring both the life of rich Tudor merchants in a booming trade port in one of the few surviving 16th century houses in the city, and a look at the grisly reality of Tudor crime & punishment in the Castle which served as a prison and court throughout the period. Learn about rich and poor in Tudor times, merchants and their servants, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and the horrors of prison, the stocks, beheadings and worse!

Monarchs School Trip

Where better to learn about Monarchs than the royal castle of Henry II? We offer a Castles & Courts workshop for Key Stage 1 exploring the use of the Castle as a royal palace, with craft activities, roleplay, medieval dancing and music to bring to life the pomp of medieval monarchs. We have also run workshops with artefact handling sessions looking at how life has changed in Britain through the reigns of different monarchs. We also offer a full tour of the royal Castle itself.

What size groups do we cater for?

Our maximum capacity in a day is 2 classes, approx. 60 pupils.

On-site classroom facilities?

We have a learning room which can be hired out by schools for lunches or other activities. This is also where our workshops take place.

Is there first aid on site?

Most of our staff are first aid trained.

Access for visitors with disabilities

The Castle Keep is a difficult building from an access point of view, as it has a large number of steep stairs. We can still accommodate children with mobility difficulties and can arrange for an extra volunteer to deliver a range of activities on the ground floor of the Keep (which is accessible from ground level) if a child is unable to manage the stairs at all.

The workshops are delivered in the Harbottle Suite in the Black Gate, which is accessible by lift. This is also the indoor lunch space, and has an accessible toilet.

Visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

At Newcastle Castle we are committed to supporting all learners. Because we understand there is no one size fits all solution when providing support, we would ask you to let us know about any special needs for anyone in your group, and we can discuss with you how best to support them.

Who are Newcastle Castle?

Steeped in history, this imposing Norman fortress is a rugged reminder of northern England’s turbulent past. Newcastle Castle is where the story of Newcastle began and the reason the city got its name.