Carisbrooke Castle School Trip

English Heritage

Newport PO30 1XY

Carisbrooke Castle has experienced sieges, imprisoned kings and seen off the Spanish Armada. Explore a history that spans over 1000 years and learn about how its role has changed from fortified defence to home of the Lord Lieutenant of the Island. Bring the curriculum to life and stand at the spot where history happened.

Cover a range of topics across the key stages:

KS1 History: Similarities and differences between ways of life in different time periods. Significant historical events, people and places in the locality

KS1 English and Drama: Take on the roles of Carisbrooke's most famous residents and their servants to find out what life was really like

KS2 History: A local history study. A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066

KS3 History: A local history study. Development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509 and in Britain 1509-1745

KS3 Geography: Understand the strategic importance of the castle

Teacher Checklist

Risk Assessments
Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
Free Places for Students
Resource Packs

What activities are available during educational visits?

Enjoy a free self-led visit to Carisbrooke Castle and organise your day to suit your curriculum needs. Carisbrooke has been an important focus of settlement since Roman times and illustrates the domestic side of castle life as well as attack and defence. Climb the steep steps to the top of the Norman keep and imagine how you would defend the castle from invaders, explore the castle and Edwardian garden, thinking about who lived there and what it might have been like. Our free handling box, full of replica items and even smell boxes can be used with our teaching resources to help you make the most of your visit.

Let our costumed experts bring the history of Carisbrooke Castle to life in an award-winning Discovery Visit workshop. For just £100 per session, your class will delve deeper into the story of the castle and the people who lived there, through hands-on learning activities including role-play, object handling and trying on costumes. Our sessions are designed to support your teaching of the curriculum and learning back in the classroom.

You can also download our free teaching resources to help support learning before, during and after your visit.

Which curriculum topics do we cater for?

Medieval School Trip

Medieval Society and Feudalism Religion and Crusades Castles

Explore Carisbrooke Castle, climb the walls to look out from the top of the defences, and imagine what life was like in the medieval period. Enhance learning with an expert-led Discovery Visit workshop, to investigate the history of the castle through costume, role play and handling objects.

Physical Geography School Trip

Map and atlas

Use map skills to investigate the location of Carisbrooke Castle and identify key features in the landscape nearby in the Map Reading activity in the free Activity Trail, available from the English heritage website.

What size groups do we cater for?

There are generally no limits to the size of education group, provided the group meets our ratios for leaders to learners. Our Discovery Visit workshops are suitable for groups of up to 30. Please see our school visit terms and conditions on our website for further details.

On-site classroom facilities?

Many of our sites have education rooms that can be booked. Please check the relevant schools property page before making a booking.

Is there first aid on site?

Yes

Access for visitors with disabilities

Yes – please see our website for further details.

Visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Our facilities have been designed to be as accessible as possible in order to meet the different needs of our visitors. A summary of the facilities provided can be found on our schools property pages.
If you or anyone in your group has particular access needs, please let us know at the point of booking or get in touch with our bookings team before you visit. Please note that some facilities may require booking in advance.

Who are English Heritage?

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War bunker. Through these, we bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year, over 300,000 of whom are education visitors.
We’re the largest heritage provider of school trips and provide a wealth of free educational resources, alongside expert-led, paid-for workshops for KS1-4. The high-quality of our education provision has been recognised most recently with a number of Sandford awards. Caring for our places and their collections, for the benefit of this and future generations is a cornerstone of everything we do.
We are a charity, no. 1140351, and a company, no. 07447221, registered in England.