Schools

Osborne offers a real insight into the private lives of Queen Victoria and her family. Their Isle of Wight home can support learning in many aspects of the curriculum, across numerous subjects.

"Our pupils love visiting Osborne as there’s so much to see and do. A trip to the house, the gardens, Swiss Cottage and the beach inspire them and enhance their learning."

Sam Sillito
Headteacher

Curriculum links

Support your teaching in the classroom by stepping out of it. A visit to Osborne will help you bring learning to life, covering multiple topics across the curriculum and key stages.

KS1 History: Significant historical events, people and places in the locality. Significant changes beyond living memory. The lives of significant individuals in the past
KS1 Science: Identify a variety of plants and trees, describe the basic structure of a variety of flowering plants and trees. Identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited, identify a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats
KS2 History: A local history study. A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066
KS2 Science: Working scientifically. Identify and name a variety of living things in the local and wider environment
KS2 Art and Design: Use the house and grounds as inspiration for the pupils' own work, create sketch books to record observations
KS3 History: A local history study. Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901
KS3 Art and Design: History of art, craft, design and architecture

Free Self-Led Visits

Enjoy a free self-led visit to Osborne and design your day to suit your curriculum needs. Tour the house, including the state rooms and family rooms and marvel at the exotic Durbar room, containing the gifts and paintings given to Queen Victoria as Empress of India. Explore the extensive grounds, including the beach where you can enjoy a pre-booked ‘Royal Tea’ with your pupils and see the Swiss Cottage with its own gardens, once tended by the royal children.

Due to limitations on capacity inside the main house, booking a time slot to visit is essential. Please request a slot when making your booking.

Enquire now

Expert-Led Discovery Visits

Our award-winning expert-led Discovery Visits are interactive and immersive. Best of all, we lead them for you. At just £100 per session per class they have been specifically designed to meet the needs of different groups across the key stages. Discover the exciting world of Victorian explorers through object handling and storytelling, have housekeeper Mrs Smith put your class through their paces as Victorian household staff, or discover the history and geology of the Isle of Wight.

Our Discovery Visits have been adapted to follow health and safety guidelines and will still offer your students a quality and fun learning experience.

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Itineraries

Take the stress out of planning your visit to Osborne and use our downloadable itineraries. Full of activity ideas and timings, they're a useful tool to make sure you get the most out of your visit. Contact our education bookings team to arrange your school trip.

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Plan Your Trip

We have a wide range of materials to support your visit and make school trip planning easy. You can find all our site-specific information and tools below, and for Covid-19 risk assessments and measures we’ve got in place please visit our what to expect page.

Download our free resources to help you make the most out of your visit and create unique learning experiences before, during and after your trip. We also offer free planning visits for group leaders once you have made a booking. Visit our bookings page to start planning your trip!

Facilities
PARKING: Free car park with accessible parking bays, 50m from admissions centre. Coach parking is 250m from the entrance.

TOILETS: Toilets are available at points across the site.

SWISS COTTAGE: Available when booked with the Victorian Explorer or Story Mat Discovery Visits.

HOUSE: Please request a time slot at the time of your booking.

ESTATE GROUNDS: The wide acres of the Osborne estate, including the beach, woodland walk and terraces are all open.

LUNCH: You are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy in the grounds.

SHOP: Shop at the admissions centre selling a range of gifts, souvenirs and books. We require you to bring your students in small groups at a time.

EDUCATION ROOM: The education room is currently unavailable.

BAG STORE: A room has been set aside where the students can store their bags whilst in the house. Otherwise they will need to carry their bags with them.

ACCESSIBILITY: There are 12 disabled parking bays located 50 yards from the admissions entrance. Disabled visitors may be set down directly outside admissions entrance. Queen Victoria's Private Apartments are accessible via a lift to the first floor. The Nursery is not accessible. A minibus is available to take wheelchair users to the Swiss Cottage and Queen Victoria's beach. The ground floor of the Swiss Cottage and Museum is accessible to wheelchair users. Gardens and Grounds are accessible using tarmac and impacted gravel paths. The Walled Garden and Swiss Cottage Garden are heavily gravelled and may be difficult for wheelchair users. The Rhododendron Walk is suitable for robust wheelchairs only. Queen Victoria's Beach paths, cafe, Queen Victoria's Bathing Machine and Alcove are all accessible, however there are two steps up to the beach boardwalk. The beach itself is not accessible to wheelchair users.

Hazard Information
A useful tool to help with your risk assessments.

Osborne Hazard Information.pdf (107 KB)

Risk Assessments
Our ready-made Discovery Visit Risk Assessments take the hassle out of planning.

The Queen is Coming Risk Assessment.pdf (80 KB)

Victorian Explorers Risk Assessment.pdf (57.8 KB)

Learning Resources
These resources are free educational tools packed with everything you need to give your group a deep insight into the place you are visiting. Featuring historical information, sources, site plans, and high-quality images, these resources are a comprehensive toolkit for group leaders of various subjects and key stages.

Osborne Teachers' Resource Pack (KS2–KS3).pdf (1.5 MB)

Osborne Timeline (KS2–KS3).pdf (1.68 MB)

Discover Osborne House using this interactive activity trail. It includes helpful teacher notes and an A5 activity booklet for students.

Osborne Activity Trail (KS2).pdf (1.71 MB)

Osborne Activity Trail (KS3).pdf (1.36 MB)

This resource will help you plan a visit to the Durbar Wing at Osborne House. It includes activity ideas and activity sheets for use before, during and after your visit.

Osborne Durbar Wing Teachers' Activity Ideas (KS2–KS3).pdf (703 KB)

Discover Osborne's grounds and gardens with this downloadable trail which is supported by a bookable backpack.

Osborne Outdoor Explorer Kit (KS1-KS3).pdf (9.5 MB)

English Heritage has commissioned a series of portraits depicting six historic figures from the African diaspora whose stories have contributed to England’s rich history.

Find out more about Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Queen Victoria's protégée, in our learning pack and artist Hannah Uzor who created her portrait.

Painting Our Past: The African Diaspora in England Learning Pack (KS1-KS4+).pdf (4.6 MB)

Education Site Opening Times
We offer free self-led education visits during school term time^*. From November until March we open exclusively for education groups at selected sites when booking an expert-led Discovery Visit. See our education opening times below for individual site information.

^*Free education visits are not offered on UK public holidays or during the operation of additional fee paying public events at English Heritage sites.

April-October: Monday-Friday 10-5pm. Discovery Visits available Monday-Friday

November-March: Monday-Friday 10-4pm. Disovery Visits available Monday-Friday

Enquire now

0370 333 0606

bookeducation@english-heritage.org.uk

Book online
Visit our bookings page to start your enquiry. All bookings must be made at least 14 days in advance. Please make sure you check our terms and conditions ahead of your visit.

If you’d like more information about a site or one of our workshops, get in touch using the online form on our bookings page to speak to your local Education Visits Officer. We look forward to seeing you soon.