How to plan a school trip to a planetarium that actually works
We have hosted school groups from Key Stage 2 through to Key Stage 4 since 2017. Teachers who get the most out of the visit tend to do a few specific things beforehand, and they are not complicated.
Match the show to the curriculum unit, not the other way around
The most common mismatch we see is a teacher booking the most dramatic-sounding show without checking whether it lines up with what the class is currently studying. Our Solar System show maps closely to the Earth and Space unit that most Year 5 and Year 6 classes cover. The Deep Space show is better suited to GCSE groups who are already familiar with the basics.
We send a pre-visit resource pack two weeks before the visit. It includes a one-page overview of the show content, a vocabulary list, and a short activity you can do in class the week before. Teachers who use the pre-visit pack consistently tell us the children are more engaged during the show because they already have a framework to hang the new information on.
Timing the visit in the school year
Visits work best when they sit in the middle of a unit, not at the start or the end. At the start, the children do not have enough context to ask good questions. At the end, the visit can feel like a reward rather than a learning experience, and the follow-up work is harder to motivate.
We can accommodate two school groups per day. Morning sessions run at 10:00 and afternoon sessions at 13:00. The full visit including the dome show, presenter Q&A, and time to look at the foyer displays takes about 90 minutes. Most schools find that fits comfortably into a half-day trip.
- Book at least four weeks ahead for autumn and spring term dates
- Request the pre-visit resource pack when you confirm the booking
- Aim for mid-unit timing rather than start or end of topic
- Brief the children on the dome format so the darkness is not a surprise
- Bring the follow-up worksheet to complete in class the week after
After the visit
The follow-up worksheet we provide maps to the same learning objectives as the show. It works best as a class activity the week after the visit, while the experience is still fresh. Several teachers have told us they use it as the basis for a written piece or a class discussion rather than a worksheet in the traditional sense.
If you want to extend the learning further, the Night Sky Tonight show is available on Friday and Saturday evenings and is suitable for older pupils visiting with their families. It covers different content from the school session and gives children a chance to look through a real telescope.
School trip bookings for the autumn term open on 1 September. Email hello@astro-haven.com with your preferred dates and group size and we will check availability.