On the day of your visit

Arrival

On arrival, the group leader should report to the reception desk. A member of the 4Schools team will greet the group and show you where to leave your property. Property can be left at the owner’s risk. Please do not leave bags unattended anywhere else in the Museums, Castle or Palace Green Library.

Supervision During your Visit

Our buildings are open to the public, so during your visit we ask that schools follow these guidelines:

• Students of all ages must be supervised at all times, including during break and lunch times.
• Primary school children must be supervised when using public toilets.
• Although some sessions may be led by the 4Schools team, please note that the overall responsibility for supervising children lies with the teacher or representative who is in charge of the group.

Handling Guidelines

Students and pupils will be given the opportunity to handle historic and replica artefacts, documents and books during their visit. The session leader will give specific advice on handling these objects.

To help protect our collections, we ask that all students have clean hands before starting the session. This is particularly important after eating as grease and other foodstuffs can cause damage to our objects.

Emergency Arrangements

4schools Workshops and Activities

In the event of an emergency, such as a fire alarm, please follow the instructions of the session leader or nearest member of staff who will lead the group to the nearest emergency exit.

Self-led visits

In an emergency please follow the instructions of the staff in the Museum, Library or Castle who will direct all visitors to the nearest emergency exit.

First aid

Trained First Aiders are available at all our sites.

Visual Stories

We have produced visual guides to what happens on a typical visit to Palace Green Library, the Oriental Museum and Durham Castle. These can be used help teachers prepare their groups to know what to expect on the day of their visit. They can be downloaded from the menu on the right.