Luna Loves Libraries Day: The Musical
Perfect for KS1 and up: 6, 7 & 8 February 2024
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Schools & Groups
School Visits
Our Learning Team is looking forward to taking your booking so do get in touch to arrange your school trip and secure your session. Email us at [email protected] or call on 01865 790050.
We offer a range of tailored sessions from Nursery to Year 13, covering each Key Stage. Our sessions are designed to help your students develop spoken language, engage in collaborative, social play and discover our shared oral and literary cultural heritage. Curriculum links include:
- Literacy
- English Literature
- PSHE
- Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
- Local and world history
- Human and physical geography
"I want to live here!" - Student on a visit, November 2022
"Brought stories to life! You have made children who don't usually want to write, want to write!" - Teacher, June 2022
"Wednesday was our school visit to The Story Museum. It was the most magical and wonderful day. Our children had the best time and the Year 4 team left so inspired for our next term of learning. We have never taken a class of children to the Museum before but after their reactions yesterday I think you will become a regular fixture on our trip list. The session leader was absolutely brilliant and the children loved her. She kept them engaged all day, they were so motivated and their imaginations were set on fire." - Teacher, March 2023
Option 1 - Small Worlds
A two-hour session exploring our Small Worlds gallery chosen from the selection below.
Suitable for: Nursery, EYFS & Year 1
Length of session: 2 hours
Session times: 10:00-12:00 or 12:30-14:30
Cost: £200+VAT per class of up to 35 students
Option 2 - Galleries tour and literacy session
An hour exploring The Story Museum's immersive Galleries, followed by an hour-long themed literacy session chosen from the selection below.
Suitable for: Years 1-13, depending on the chosen literacy session
Content of session: Gallery visit and literacy workshop
Length of session: 2 hours
Session times: 10:00-12:00 or 12:30-14:30
Cost: £200+VAT per class of up to 35 students
Option 3 - City Story Walk
A story-themed walk through Oxford to see iconic places in the city that inspired its most famous fantasy writers. Choose your themed-walk from Alice, Narnia or a local history-based Wonderwalk (see below for details)
Suitable for: Years 2-13
Content of session: Outdoor walk around the city of Oxford
Length of session: 2 hours
Session times: 10:00-12:00 or 12:30-14:30
Cost: £200+VAT per class of up to 35 students
Click here to listen to a short Podcast of one of our Story Walks made by children on one of our skills courses
Option 4 - Add on a City of Stories film experience
For only an extra £30 for your whole class, why not board our Story Craft for a short film flying through a thousand years of Oxford's story history - the perfect way to provide context for your visit.
Suitable for: Years 2-13
Content of session: additional film experience to option 2 or option 3 above
Length of session: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cost: £230+VAT per class of up to 35 students
Option 5 - Day of Delight
Combine Option 2 (Gallery visit and literacy session) with Option 3 (City Story Walk)
Suitable for: Years 2-13
Content of session: Gallery visit, literacy session, City Story Walk
Length of session: 4 hours 30 minutes (including 30-minute lunch break)
Session times: 10:00-14:30
Cost: £300+VAT per class of up to 35 students
Option 6 - Extraordinary Day of Delight
Combine Option 2 (Gallery visit and literacy session), with Option 3 (City Story walk) AND Option 4 (City of Stories film experience)
Suitable for: Years 2-13
Content of session: Gallery visit, literacy session, City Story Walk, City of Stories film experience
Length of session: 5 hours (including 30-minute lunch break)
Session times: 09:30-14:30 or 10:00-15:00
Cost: £330+VAT per class of up to 35 students
Option 7 - Epic Adventure
Why not upgrade to an Epic Adventure and bundle in two visits to the Museum alongside an in-school storytelling session, teacher CPD, tailored story resources and a targeted reader engagement programme - all for a reduced cost?
Cost: £1,200+VAT
For more details, see the download below.
Story Pic N Mix: Nursery
Students enter our Small Worlds gallery to explore the range of worlds and activities and choose their favourites. The session includes a mixture of structured oral storytime and songs as well as free play in the different environments, craft and messy play.
Outcome: A craft or learned song or story
Story Play: EYFS & Year 1
Students enter our Small Worlds gallery for stories on our big bed and in our magical Night Safe. They create their own mini story landscapes and imagine the episodes that could unfold within their enchanting new world.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation
Story Porridge: Years 1-3
Students will join in with participatory retellings of traditional folk and fairy tales, and learn to retell the story in groups. They will use the classic device of the Rule of 3 to create their own story.
Outcomes: speaking and listening presentation
Story Tricksters: Years 1-3
Students are introduced to oral stories that star the classic character of the Trickster, such as Anansi the Spider and Reynard the Fox, before creating and retelling their own versions.
Outcomes: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Minibeast Adventure: Years 2-5
This brand new session is available until Easter 2024 to complement our temporary exhibition, Brilli-ANT, which explores ways to tackle climate change. After exploring imaginative examples such as Lewis Carroll's Rocking Horse Fly and Bread-and-Butter Fly, students will work in groups to invent their own marvellous minibeast character, whose special superpowers will combat climate change against the forces working against them.
Outcomes: speaking and listenng presentation, written draft if requested
Story Portals: Years 2-7
Students explore portals used in classic stories featured in the Enchanted Library, from the Rabbit Hole down into Wonderland to the Wardrobe through to Narnia. Students then create their own magical portal between two worlds, using a wealth of materials to stimulate the beginning of an enchanting story, including the beautiful mini worlds displayed in cabinets in the Magic Common Room.
Outcomes: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Fantasy Map Mission: Years 3-7
In this session, students will encounter the classic structure of the Quest story, and explore maps and plans found in many popular children’s stories such as Tolkien's Middle Earth, C S Lewis' Narnia and A A Milne's Hundred Acre Wood. Students will be transported into different fantasy worlds before creating their own maps to support story writing.
Outcomes: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Young Storytellers: Years 5-11
Students listen and join in with traditional oral stories from around
the world and then create their own version using the key elements of
story - character, setting, theme and plot structure.
Outcomes: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Write at The Story Museum: Years 5-13
The Story Museum's evocative settings provide the perfect environment to give your students' writing experience a lift. Guided by our Learning Team, made up of experienced primary and secondary teachers, your students will explore the Museum's story-based environments with a view to inspiring new pieces of writing with a focus on vocabulary and metaphorical language.
Outcomes: writing draft
Museum Maker: Years 5-13
A revitalising approach to your own class set text. The students will
explore The Story Museum's curation process and then design an
immersive narrative environment based on close reading and analysis. Please let us know in advance the text you would like us to base the session on; if you have no preference, we will use The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Past bespoke sessions have included Betsy Byars' The Midnight Fox, Michelle Magorian's Goodnight Mr Tom, James Dashner's The Maze Runner, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
Outcomes: speaking and listening presentation; illustrated and annotated design using quotations
Oral Storytelling Techniques: Year 12-Adults in FE
This session is a basic, 1 hour introduction to oral storytelling techniques, using theories from ancient, modern and contemporary storytellers.
Please note that this session is for further education institutions only, such as teacher training colleges and universities. If you are a school or institution looking for in-service, continuing professional development training for your staff members, please click here for details of our CPD and adult training sessions.
Alice Story Walk: Years 2-4
Come on a walk through the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. We'll begin at The Story Museum, then walk along to Christ Church Meadow, the location of many sites that inspired Lewis Carroll. As your Story Leader retells the story, we'll have a Caucus Race, a Caterpillar Contest, a Game of Red Queen Says and fun with riddles and charades along the way.
Narnia Story Walk: Years 2-4
Come on a walk through the story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with our Story Leader. We'll begin at The Story Museum and follow the lampposts towards the grounds of Oxford Castle - the perfect setting for a re-telling of the dramatic events at the White Witch's palace.
Wonder Walk: Year 4-adult
From the Narnia lamppost and Alice’s gate to the spires and rooftops of Oxford...the Wonder Walk route features stunning locations including the Radcliffe Camera and Christ Church, with a few dragons along the way! The walk features authors past and present who have been inspired by Oxford in some way: Kieran Millwood Hargrave (The Girl of Ink and Stars), C S Lewis (the Narnia series), J R R Tolkien (The Hobbit), Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland), Philip Pullman (Northern Lights trilogy), Katherine Rundell (Rooftoppers) and Patience Agbabi (The Infinite).
During the walk your students will learn key facts about the writers’ lives and how simply observing the world can lead to ideas for classic fiction. Your students will also play the stories through a variety of multi-sensory games and storytelling.
SCHOOL VISIT FAQS
- How do I make a school booking?
Please contact the Learning Team by email to [email protected] or call us on 01865 790050. When booking, please specify:
- The name and post code of your school
- Your name, email address and telephone number
- The size of the group
- The age range and ability of the group
- Your preferred dates and times
- The name of the session you wish to book (see details above)
- If you would like an emphasis for your chosen session (each session has a specific focus) or have your session adapted to fit your scheme of work
- If you would like to book our lunch room
- If you would like to order goody bags and if so, how many and/or your intention to visit our shop
- Any special requirements
- When do school visits take place?
School visits take place Tuesday – Friday, subject to availability. There is a morning session (10:00-12:00) and an afternoon session (12:30-14:30).
- Who leads the school sessions?
Each session is led by a member of our friendly and experienced Learning Team who are all qualified primary and secondary teachers. If you have any queries on the day, they will be happy to help.
- How many students can we bring?
Our school sessions are for groups of up to 35 students plus accompanying staff. We can usually accommodate two groups (up to 70 students) per time slot.
- How many adults do we need to bring?
The adult:student ratio for a school group will be:
- 1 adult for every 3 students for groups in Nursery
- 1 adult for every 5 students for groups in EYFS
- 1 adult for every 6 students for groups in Key Stage 1
- 1 adult for every 8 students for groups in Key Stage 2
- 1 adult for every 10 students for groups in Key Stage 3
- What do I need to do before the visit?
When you have agreed a date with the Learning Team, you will be sent a booking form. Please return this booking form so that we can confirm your booking.
We recommend that you visit the Museum before your group visit so that you know where we are and to complete your school’s risk assessments. You’ll receive two free preview tickets for this purpose; preview visits must be booked in advance by emailing us at [email protected]
- What safety measures are in place to keep staff and students safe?
To ensure that school groups have a safe and fun visit to The Story Museum, please read the Access page of the Museum’s website.
- Do you provide schools with risk assessments?
We do not provide risk assessments for schools but we do provide a Hazard Identification Sheet at the point of booking. It is the school’s responsibility to carry out a risk assessment for its own students. We recommend that you make a preview visit so that you can produce your own risk assessment - we offer two free preview tickets for this purpose. Preview visits must be booked in advance by emailing us at [email protected]
- What if we need to change/cancel our booking?
We appreciate that sometimes plans can change. If you need to change your booking, please contact the Learning Team as soon as possible. We can’t guarantee to accommodate all requests but we will work with you to facilitate any changes.
If you need to cancel your booking, we will endeavor to arrange another date for you. If you cancel within 14 days of your session and do not wish to change your date, you will not be entitled to a refund.
Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information about payments and cancellations.
- Can we eat lunch at the Museum?
Our lunch room can be reserved free of charge at the time of booking. Lunch slots are bookable for 30 minutes after a morning session or 30 minutes prior to an afternoon session. Groups without a pre-booked lunch space will be required to leave the museum at the end of their session. Please note that your lunch space may be shared with other visiting school groups.
- Can we visit the Museum shop?
As visits to the shop can be time-consuming, we recommend instead that you pre-order goody bags. Find out more here.
Please let us know at the time of booking if your students would like to visit the shop. We ask that students do so at the end of their visit, in groups of no more than 6, and that they are supervised by an adult at all times. Please note that the shop does not accept cash payments.
- How do we get to The Story Museum?
The Story Museum is located 42 Pembroke Street, Oxford OX1 1BP.
If you are travelling by public transport, the nearest bus stops are on St Aldates but all the city centre stops are within a 10-minute walk of the Museum.
We are approximately a 15-minute walk from Oxford railway station.
The nearest public car parks are located at the Westgate Shopping Centre and the Oxpens car park on Oxpens Road. Both are a five-minute walk from The Story Museum. Please check here for current parking information on the Oxford City Council website here: http://www.oxford.gov.uk/carparks
- Where should the coach/mini bus drop off/pick-up and park?
The nearest drop off point is a five-minute walk from The Story Museum at St Aldates South (northbound) – just south of the Combined Court OX1 1TL.
There is NO PARKING or vehicle access at The Story Museum. Your coach company must make their own arrangements to park.
Information about drop-off/pick-up points in Oxford city centre and coach parking can be found on the Oxford City Council website here: https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20078/parking_in_oxford/490/parking_for_coaches_lorries_and_mini_buses - What time should we arrive and what happens if we’re running late?
Please plan to arrive at The Story Museum 15 minutes prior to your session. If you have pre-booked the lunch room, please do not arrive more than 10 minutes before your allocated slot.
Please make sure that you have our number (01865 790050) in your mobile so that you can contact the Learning Team if you are running late.
If you arrive late, we will not be able to deliver the full two-hour session due to other venue commitments and group bookings but the Learning Team will endeavour to adjust the session so that your students get the most out of the time available.
- How accessible is the site?
All of our spaces, including our galleries, café and shop, are fully accessible for wheelchair users. There are three lifts offering access to all floors. Accessible toilets are situated on the ground floor and the first floor.
If you would like to discuss any particular needs or access issues, please speak to the Learning Team.
If you have any other questions, please contact the Learning Team who will be happy to help - [email protected]