FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Getting Here

Coaches can drop off quite close to the museum, but there is not a designated drop off space. You can either drop off on adjacent Orchard Street, where there is a loading bay, but you may cause a temporary hold up to traffic, or on adjacent Alfred Street, which is quite straightforward if you pick a convenient spot to pull over.

If you decide to drop off at a nearby designated coach point, then please allow time to walk from there. There are several designated coach drop off points down on the seafront or coaches can park up at nearby Locking Road car park, but please allow enough time to walk from these.

The main train station is a short walk away from the museum, so you might wish to consider arriving by train.

View our opening times and visitor information.

Coats and Bags

We have a designated cloakroom space for school groups, which does not need to be booked if you are taking part in a learning session but does need to be booked if you are conducting a self-guided visit.

Lunch

The Learning Space (where sessions are held) can also be booked out as a space to have lunch. There may be a small charge for this or it may be free depending on what type of session you are taking part in. This space needs to be specifically booked for lunches when placing a booking for a session, as it needs to be incorporated into timings. Other spaces around the museum, such as the Courtyard, cannot be used as school lunch spaces, due to being fire routes.

Staying Safe

The safety and welfare of all of our visitors is very important to us. Feel free to use our Risk Assessment – Museum school visits and learning sessions 2024 to help plan your day; it includes consideration of Safeguarding issues, which you can also read about further in the Town Council’s Safeguarding Policy.  The Learning Space is self-contained and doors can be shut to deter anybody wandering off; it is also right next to the visitor’s toilets, so supervising toilet visits is very straight-forward.

Adult/Child Ratios and Behaviour

We ask groups to try to have a ratio of at least 1 adult to every 6 children for visits from KS1 & 2 groups. During your visit, you can explore the galleries (this is done separately to learning sessions, so please consider this in your timings). We ask for adults to stay with children and not leave them unsupervised at any point, both for safety and for behaviour monitoring. We want visits to be enjoyable and fun, but please do keep in mind that within the gallery areas there will be other visitors using the space too.

We also ask for the adults that accompany a visit to take an active part within learning sessions too, both for behaviour management and better engagement. The whole group will get more out of an activity where the adults join in and encourage good listening skills from the children.

View our opening times and visitor information.