All our activities last for two hours. These normally run from 10am-12 noon or 1pm-3pm, but these times are flexible to allow for groups’ arrival or departure times. We can of course adjust times to suit groups with disabilities.
Booking
For information on how to book any of our sessions, click here
Risk Assessments
Click here for information to assist with your risk assessments for the visit. Please contact the Centre for any further information or to arrange to see our own risk assessments.
Cost
For mainstream school groups the cost of a two hour activity session is £135. For specialist schools and community groups the cost is £5 per person (teachers/carers are free).
Transport
Please state on the booking form if you are travelling by coach, as you will require a coach permit to come into Richmond Park.
Groups who have difficulty with the cost of transport can enquire about our transport bursary. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Arrival
All groups must stop in the visitors’ parking bay by the Holly Lodge lychgate before entering the site. A group leader should report to Holly Lodge reception in the cottage, where you will be directed to the car park and met by a member of the Holly Lodge Centre team.
Clothing
It is essential for all outdoor sessions that group members wear clothes that completely cover their legs. Here is a link to information about hazards in Richmond Park.
We always aim to deliver our education sessions whatever the weather throws at us. Please make sure that everyone brings suitable clothing and footwear.
Suitable for upper Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
The children will be inspired by poetry about trees in Richmond Park and they will learn about veteran trees and the animals that live in them. They will use their own senses to really think about emotive language as they explore the nature trail.
Suitable for Key Stage 2
The children will learn about about the role Richmond Park played during WW1, to understand why and how people grew their own food during this time, they will gain an insight into life as a WW1 nurse and will develop an understanding of the importance placed on technological innovation to support the war effort.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
The children will explore the different habitats where invertebrates might live and will catch one in a bug pot to get a closer look. They will learn how to identify an invertebrate, to consider which environments are best suited and will develop an understanding of the importance of camouflage.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Understand the requirements of survival, food chains and observe real habitats on the nature trail.
Suitable for Year 2 and above, and for those with disabilities
All pupils will dip in the pond and put their findings in trays to be looked at closely and identified. We also have a raised pond to make sure everyone is able to access. The children will explore the rich variety of lifeforms found in the ponds. They will use indentification charts to name what they catch and will record their findings. We hope that by the end of the session they will be able to name 12 of the main forms of pond life.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.
Identify and name a variety of the birds in the park and recognise differences in their bodies, diets and habitats. A very sensory session which encourages children to think about sight, sound, touch, smell and taste.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
A basic introduction to the world of plants, including tress, their structure, their means of reproduction and their importance to all life forms.
Suitable for groups with special educational needs and disabilities
A fun, sensory exploration of the jobs done by some of the very special invertebrates living in the park. This session can be adapted to suit all needs and abilities.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and for those with learning disabilities
The learners will explore how the natural world prepares for and copes with the harsh conditions of autumn and, more especially, winter. A key objective is to impress on children how they can help the natural world by simple strategies, e.g. food and water for birds and other animals in their garden, or in their school grounds.
Suitable for years 1-3 and can be adapted for individuals with learning difficulties.
Learn how the past influences the present day and where evidence for this can be found.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
Experience a Victorian lesson taught by strict Mrs Sawyer in her schoolroom.
The pupils will gain an insight into the life of a Victorian Schoolchild and compare it with today’s schools. The Sawyers were an important part of the history of the park – for example many of the children in Mrs Sawyer’s school would have had fathers who worked in the park for Mr. Sawyer, the Head Keeper in the late 1800s.
Suitable for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils
A hands on session learning the different roles servants did in the Victorian Era. Explore vast social class differences, the reasons for the mass migration from rural areas to the towns and how things were done before modern technology.
Suitable for Key Stage 2.
Come and let your pupils immerse themselves in local history whilst becoming Victorian pharmacy apprentices. The Victorian Pharmacy is a unique room located at the Holly Lodge Centre in Richmond Park. It is a genuine Victorian Pharmacy that was formally located in East Sheen.They will use their numeracy skills; measuring ingredients, working out fractions and completing data charts as they help the Pharmacist create pills and potions.
This session is for children and adults with special educational needs and disabilities.
In late November and December the cosy schoolroom is transformed ready to celebrate Victorian Christmas.
Find out what we get up to at Holly Lodge during the school holidays.
Suitable for groups of elderly people and those with livnjg with dementia.
Come and visit our genuine Victorian Pharmacy, make soap using traditional methods, and enjoy reminiscing about the past and changes in living memory.
Suitable for groups of elderly people and those living with Dementia.
Come and visit our Victorian classroom, explore household objects from the Victorian era and enjoy reminiscing about the past and changes in living memory.