Onsite visits FAQs

All of our sessions are fast-paced, active and fun. We believe in child-led learning through exploration and discovery, purposeful engagement and directed activities. So expect your students to be moving around, taking part in discussions and having fun. We have a unique resource in the Roald Dahl archive and we aim to use this as much possible for groups to learn more about an aspect of the writing process.

We will ask all of your accompanying adults to work with your group at various points in the visit, especially during the galleries-based galleries challenge and small group activities. This is because we understand the benefits of children learning alongside adults. Our testing and development of the sessions showed us that searching, selecting and responding in the Museum with an engaged adult offers students a powerful learning experience, different to classroom learning.

We know that you can access knowledge about Roald Dahl without visiting us, so we don’t provide talks about Roald Dahl facts; instead, all elements of your visit will focus on an aspect of the writing process, using the unique resources of the Museum to bring this to life.

Our sessions are based around a key literacy area, such as re-drafting or developing characters. They include small group activities where your pupils will work with your adult helpers. All sessions are suitable for up to 32 students and we offer one free adult place for every 6 children that you bring.

We offer two types of session – 90 minute galleries-based morning/afternoon sessions and an extended 180 minute archive-based session.

Both types of session include:

• Time exploring the Museum’s galleries with our 40 interactive installations
•  Small group activities working with materials from the Roald Dahl archive
• Discovering more about Roald Dahl’s life

All sessions are suitable for up to 32 students plus accompanying adults. We recommend a 1:6 ratio for schools and offer free adult places at this ratio. We also offer free entry to all essential 1-to-1 adult carers.

If you booked all three sessions (2 x 90min galleries-based sessions and 1 x 180min archive-based session) you could bring a maximum of 96 students.

The school sessions are aimed at Year 2 to 8 pupils.

The 90 minute galleries-based session or 180 minute archive-based session includes time to explore the Museum as part of the structured session. The session does not include general access to the Museum outside of the agreed session times.

If you would like to extend your day you can choose to take your students on the self-led Village Trail to places that inspired Roald Dahl.

Access to the Museum galleries is only possible during your structured school sessions. However, access to the children’s eating areas and toilets will be available to you at all times. You can also visit the shop from 10am on days when the Museum is open to the general public.

Yes, in most cases general visitors and small groups can visit the Museum at the same time as schools. We monitor visitor numbers to make sure everyone’s visit is as enjoyable as possible. We will ask school groups to split into smaller numbers during their time in the galleries to make sure your experience with us is as comfortable as possible.

Adults are free at a ratio of 1:6 children and any 1-to-1 support is also free. Additional adults are charged at the general admission rate.

We recommend a ratio of 1:6. We reserve the right to refuse admission if you arrive with less than 1:8. Please contact the Learning Team if you are planning to visit with a different ratio.

No, the teachers/adult helpers at a recommended ratio of 1:8 must supervise their students at all times during the visit. This includes supervision of lunchtimes.

We offer two Golden Tickets per school to allow teachers to visit the Museum in advance and carry out their own risk assessment.

The Golden Tickets will be emailed to you with your invoice and timetable. We will also include a copy of our Health and Safety information sheet.

When you have received your Golden Tickets, you can book your pre-visit online. Please note that the Museum is open Thursdays to Sundays.

£205 for a galleries-based 90 minute session for up to 32 students.
£240 for an archive-based 180 minute session for up to 32 students.

Adults are free at a ratio of 1:6 children and any 1-to-1 support is also free. Additional adults are charged at the general admission rate.

You can also choose to make your visit longer with our free self-led Village Trail.

Access to a designated area to eat lunch is included with every session booking.

School sessions run throughout the academic year during Buckinghamshire term time only. 90 minute galleries-based sessions take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Extended 180 minute archive-based sessions take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Museum opens at 10am.

The Museum is not open to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so the shop is closed on these days.

Morning 90 minute galleries-based sessions start at 10am and afternoon sessions from 12.30pm. The extended 180 minute archive-based sessions start at 11am and run until 2pm, with a 30 minute lunch break included.

If you’ve booked a session, your school will be designated an indoor area to eat in during your visit.

The best way to book a visit is to click here to contact us online. You can also call the Learning Team on 01494 892192. The schools pages on our website contain a wealth of information about school visits including costs, session descriptions and key facts. Please note that due to high demand our school sessions can book up many months in advance.

Please contact the Learning Team to arrange a provisional booking. When your school booking is confirmed we will provide the school with an invoice for the session/s. The invoice can be settled by bank transfer or cheque. Full details are included on the invoice. Payment must be made 28 days before the visit. Cancellations within 28 days will incur a 50% charge. Cancellations within 7 school days will incur a 100% charge.

Our sessions are very busy and packed full of great activities for the children to do. For you and your class to get the most out of the sessions we need to maintain strict start and finish times which don’t allow for additional snack breaks (a 30 minute lunch break is included in the 180 minute session). If you are travelling a long way to the Museum and you think your children will need a snack before lunch, we suggest providing them with this to eat on the coach or when you arrive at the coach drop-off point. If you have children or adults with specific requirements which means that they will need to eat during a session, please make the Learning Team aware of this at the point of booking.

Yes, if you’ve booked a session your school will be designated an indoor area to eat in during your visit.

The Museum and shop are fully accessible. The 180 minute school sessions take place in our first-floor learning space. We have a lift to access the room which can take two people, or one wheelchair user and one other at a time. See our Access page for more information.

Yes, our Museum shop stocks a wide range of books and Roald Dahl goodies and is open on Thursdays and Fridays during Museum opening hours. The shop is open for non-Museum visitors too. Alternatively you can take a look at our online shop.

For school visits children will need to enter the shop in small groups of no more than 8. All children must be accompanied by at least one teacher/adult helper. The shop can be visited before and after your session. You will not be able to visit the shop during your school session.

Please be aware that if you are attending the 180 minute session there will not be time to visit the shop during your lunch break. If you wish to visit the shop please do so before 11am or after 2pm.

Visiting the shop can be time-consuming. Instead we can provide goody bags containing delightful gifts at a cost of £4 each. Goody bags must be ordered in advance, but paid for on the day of your visit by card, cash or cheque. Cheques for goody bags must be made payable to The Roald Dahl Centre (Trading) Ltd.

Yes, we do. These visits differ from a school visit as they are self-guided and do not include any facilitated sessions or talks. We offer a 10% discount for prepaid groups of 15 or more.

Depending on what date you are visiting, we may be able to arrange talks and tours at an additional cost, subject to staff availability. See our Group Visits page for more information.

The Museum is in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, England, about 20 miles northwest of London. As our Museum is situated on a historic high street, coaches are unable to drop schools or groups off directly outside the building. Please pass the instructions in your visit confirmation Teacher Information Pack to your coach driver so your travel company knows exactly where to drop you off and pick you up.

We have been advised by Buckinghamshire Council that coaches using the coach drop-off point must use the turning circle.

Please let us know if you are planning to visit by minibus. Some minibus parking is available on request subject to availability. Please speak to the Learning Team at least 10 days in advance of your visit.

Great Missenden is also served by a good train service direct from London. The village is situated on the Chiltern Railways line that runs between London Marylebone and Aylesbury.

The direct service from London Marylebone takes about 45 minutes and direct trains from Aylesbury take about 15 minutes.

As the Museum is part of the historic High Street, there is no parking at the Museum itself. Coaches are not allowed along the High Street – please use the coach drop-off point in the Buryfield car park off Link Road. Please do not park or wait in the Link Road pay and display car park. There are a number of parking bays along the A413 where coaches can wait while the class are in the Museum.

We have been advised by Buckinghamshire Council that coaches using the coach drop-off point in the Buryfield car park must use the turning circle.

If you are planning to visit the Museum by minibus please let us know in advance of your visit.

Many schools need to hire coaches or pay train fares to visit the Museum. While this is not a problem for some schools, we are aware that it prevents others from visiting us who may not be able to afford these costs.

We can offer up to £450 towards travel costs for ten schools each academic year. The cost of the school session at the Museum is still payable by the school. See the Travel Bursary page for more information.

We will always do our best to accommodate individual requests. However there will be times when we have three school sessions on site and we cannot be flexible. We will need to ensure there is adequate time to prepare for each school session and staffing available. See our school visit timetable for more information.

Please try to arrive on time and let us know if you are running late on the day as soon as you possibly can. On days where we have three school sessions running we will not be able to let any session overrun at the end to compensate for a late start to the session. We will do our best to ensure you still have a wonderful experience in the Museum with the time available.