The Victorians

Standard / non-member rates

For groups of 15 or more children
2-hour experience – £7.75 per child

For groups of fewer than 15 children
2-hour experience – £116.25 per group

Magical Museums member rates

For groups of 15 or more children
2-hour experience – £4.36 per child*

For groups of fewer than 15 children
2-hour experience – £65.40 per group

*If available, your member school's free hours will be used first.

Please note: SEND groups are charged at our Standard per-child rate plus a £10 administration cost.

What to expect from your Experience Day

What was school like for Victorian children, and what was life like in the home? We will transport your pupils back to the Victorian times where they will come face-to-face with a Victorian teacher and take part in some traditional learning activities, Victorian style! This multifaceted session also features object handling relating to Victorian home life, dressing up and a chance to visit the Story of Hull gallery.

The led session includes:

• Introduction to the site and setting the scene to the session and historical period
• This session is delivered in character, beginning with a Victorian school teacher
• Victorian schoolroom experience – sit at original desks and take part in a typical Victorian lesson
• Object handling activity focussing on Victorian home life – handle original Victorian artefacts relating to the roles of specific servants at the time
• Visit the Story of Hull gallery in smaller groups to learn more about daily life in the local area
• Plenary and evaluation

Group size

We can accommodate up to two groups from your school per available date – with a maximum of 35 pupils per group. If you’d like to bring more than two groups (70 pupils), please book additional days.

Timings

We deliver sessions from 10am–12pm for the first group, and 12.30–2.30pm for the second group. If you’re bringing two groups to/from the museum at the same time, we strongly recommend you book in self-directed time (you can find out more about this below!)

Please note: Hands on History Museum is closed to the public, so we can only support one group at a time. If you're bringing two groups, your second group will be booked into the Streetlife Museum (approximately 10-minute walk away) for any self-directed time.

Make a full day of your visit

When making your booking through Eventbrite, you’ll be asked if you want to book a space for lunch and self-directed time, too.

Self-directed time is essentially a booking to explore the museum in a large group. You need to book it in so we know we can accommodate your class alongside other visitors. It does not include any activities led by museum staff – so please plan your time accordingly.

Please note: Hands on History Museum closed to the public, so we can only support one group at a time. If you're bringing two groups, your second group will be booked into the Streetlife Museum (approximately 10-minute walk away) for any self-directed time.

Lunches
If you’re bringing one group, they will stay on site at the Hands on History Museum to eat lunch before departing. If you’re bringing two groups, lunches will be staggered at the Streetlife Museum.

Pre-visit info

To make the most of your visit, make sure you download and read the following documents. These include detailed information on what to expect from the day. For example: timings, locations, T&Cs and risk assessment.

A link for these will also be included on your confirmation email and ticket.

We also have the following resources and documents available to help with your visit planning if you are carrying out self-directed time at Streetlife Museum:

Book the Victorian Experience Day for your school

We are currently using Eventbrite for bookings while we move over to a new system. Any reference to FREE on the Eventbrite system relates only to not being charged at the point of booking. These sessions are NOT free – all schools will be invoiced following your visit based on the booking details you provide. Prices are listed above.

Bookings for the Autumn Term have now sold out. Our bookings for the Spring Term will open up to Magical Museums member schools in late Autumn 1 half term, and to all other schools in late November 2024. 

Cancellation policy

If you need to cancel or change your booking, you can do this by logging into the Eventbrite account you used to make your booking.

Our cancellation policy states: If you accept this visit but are unable to attend, please cancel your visit via Eventbrite by logging into your account and cancelling your booked ticket. We ask that where possible, you do this within 7 working days of the visit to free up the slot for another school. 

Please note: if you cancel your visit with less than 24 hours’ notice of the booked slot, you will be charged £50.