Plan your school visit

Students wearing name tags help the Museum Educators to have a more direct and personalised interactions with your students, fostering a sense of comfort and belonging.

Pre-group the students into fours in case there is a co-operative activity.

Review these behavioural guidelines with your students so that they are best able to manage themselves on the outing. 'At The Dowse, we all use quiet voices, walking feet and we don't touch the artworks'.

If you are planning to be out through a meal time, pack a container with everyone's food in it so the students aren't weighed down by bags.

Please let the educators know in advance if you have a student that has specific learning requirements so that we can ensure their experience is more engaging. If your student would benefit from becoming familiar with the museum before the actual visit we recommend sharing this story together. If parents, teachers or students would like a previsit to our galleries we are happy to show you around and create an experience that works for everyone.

At the end of the day, pictures of the students interacting with the art are like gold for post visit work. Please feel free to snap away. Our educators will tell you if there are places that you can't take photos.

In the event of an emergency the museum educators will lead the appropriate response. We recommend that teachers come prepared with a ‘Go To’ bag containing a class roll, charged cell phone (with a contact phone number for the bus if appropriate), class set of snacks and a bottle of water. Museum staff are trained first aiders. To assist with your emergency planning please download the RAMS form.

Download the Risk Assessment Management Form