Education at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum

At the Submarine Museum, your group can dive into a learning experience tailored to meet your students' needs. This is the only museum in the UK where students can get a guided tour of a real submarine by one of our experienced guides, some of whom actually served on board.

All school visits can include a National Curriculum based workshop or activity covering Early Years to KS4 (plus Special Needs) History and/or Science. 

Depending on how much time you have, your visit can include all of the following:

1. A taught workshop from the Education Officers (see options below)
2. A guided themed tour of our WW2 era submarine, HMS Alliance, led by former submariners
3. Fun hands on activities in the Science & Submarines Gallery
4. Activities with the museum's collection of artefacts

Duration of activities:

• The tour of HMS Alliance lasts around 45 minutes
• The taught workshop runs for 40mins or 60 minutes dependent on the needs of the group
• Time to explore the Science & Submarines Gallery (15-20 minutes) whether led by museum staff or on a self led basis
• Time to explore the Area of Remembrance, Holland I (The Royal Navy's first submarine) and X-24  (the only surviving example of a World War Two midget submarine
• these activities can be lead by the learning team or we can advise you on additonal activities which may compliment your visit

Costs

• £2 per pupil, adults and teachers are FREE (UK schools only, Language Schools £5 per pupil) 
• The cost covers entry to the museum which includes: a tour of our historic Submarine HMS Alliance, activity workshop with our experienced education officers, and other museum activities.

To book call 023 92510354 ext 223 or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Please note:

From the 5th November 2012 - 1st April 2013  the museum operates its normal winter opening hours which means it is closed on Monday and Tuesdays - this effects school group bookings who wish to visit. School visits are still available Wednesday-Friday during these winter hours and Monday-Friday during the rest of the year.

HMS Alliance is now re-open to the public and school groups. For more information on our opening hours click here.

 Workshops at the Submarine Museum

School groups now have the use of a new dedicated learning centre with full access to the museum's education and learning services. Schools have their own faciltities, including lunchroom / workshop space and accessible toilets.

We are currently developing an exciting new range of workshops for schools both on site and as outreach for different subjects and key stages. Watch this space for all the latest updates, please contact us if you would like to stay up to date with our new workshops for schools.

This spring we will be offering a brand new series of workshops as well as our current offer for schools and Early years groups, these will include:

EYFS and KS1 :Ships, Boats and Submarines

KS2 : Time lines and time detectives

KS2: The Horrible Science of Submarines

KS3/4 : Cold War beneath the waves

Your visit may last from 10am to 2pm, or we can arrange times to suit your group. As part of your visit your group will get a curriculum linked and creative workshop led by our education staff. All workshops have a duration of 1 hour.You can choose from our range of workshops shown below:

Early Years, Foundation  - Queenie and Billikins

Explore the story of two adorable and special  sealions who helped the crew of a submarine.  Pupils enjoy an interactive story with glove puppets, dressing up, and real submarine objects. Pupils can  make one of the sea creatures from the story, then tour the submarine to find out what it was like to travel under the sea.

KS1 - Skull and Crossbones

Just like Pirates as Admiral Max Horton said ' Submariners are little better than pirates"

Arrgh! shiver me timbers! Discover the connections between Pirates and Submariners. Pupils can learn more about pirates that live beneath the sea in a fun workshop through a mixture of hands on games and can create their own jolly roger based on the ones in the museum galleries.

Pupils have the opportunity to take part in a Pirate hunt I-spy activity in the museum gallery looking for objects in the museum. Then they take a tour in the submarine and learn more about life beneath the waves. This can also now include time in Busy Boats Bay gallery which explores the links between Pirates and Submarines. Children can climb aboard a pirate ship, steer the submarine and dress up as pirates.

KS1 & KS2  - Remembrance 'Lest we forget'

The pupils use objects and images to build a picture of the men who went away on submarines and the families they left behind. In the museum, they can find out why the poppy is a symbol and look at other symbols. They lay a poppy wreath and leave at the submarine memorial. Pupils can visit the area of remembrance which lists the names of over 5000 servicemen, they can walk along the length of the wall and investigate some of the stories behind the names that are listed.  

KS2 - Make Do and Mend beneath the waves!

 Discover more about how smelly submariners coped with shortages and rationing at sea. The group can then look at how people at home coped with shortages and rationing. Objects and uniform are used to show how people at home and at sea coped with war time shortages. Pupils can also explore the museum galleries and take part in an I-spy trail to discover some of the objects in the museum and find the museum objects associated with making do beneath the waves.

Pupils can tour HMS Alliance to see how the men lived and worked during World War 2 and also discover the last surviving midget submarine X-24 from world war two used to attach mines to enemy ships!

KS2 - World War Two above and beneath the waves!

Find out what people at home and beneath the waves lived like during World War Two. Take part in a workshop session focusing on objects from the museum's collections including looking at the contents of a world war two Ditty Box, compare the objects inside with those used by people living on shore at home.

Also pupils take part in by dressing up as an evacuee, as a submariner ready to go aboard and also as a crew member from World War Two submarine HMS Ursula. Discover the story of the infamous Ursula suit invented by Captain Phillips of HMS Ursula, one pupil volunteers to dress up in the suit, the rest of the class look on to see if the waterproof suit is REALLY waterproof.

 KS2 - The Science of Submarines!

Pupils investigate how submarines dive and surface by working as a team to make their own battery powered submarine and then test it's buoyancy in water. They can look through a real periscope to investigate how light travels and see the science in action on the submarine.

 KS2 - Sub-verse

Using the experience of going on a tour of HMS Alliance, collaberatively the group gather use this as their stimulus  together with their own  ideas, words and their own experiences and create poems and creative writing based on their tour of HMS Alliance. questions are posed to them to help create inspiring and unqiue poetry. Various poetic techniques are then explored and a group poem and individual works are created to describe HMS Alliance.

Special Needs

All sessions are suitable for students with Special Needs.

Key Stage 3 and 4

The museum can offer a range of sessions, including longer projects with Gifted and Talented students, during certain times of the year.  

The workshops outlined above can be tailored to meet the requirements of Key Stage 3 and 4 groups. We will also be running an engineering roadshow in partnership with BAE systems and RAF education as part of the HMS Alliance project.

We will be running a Engineering Roadshow in partnership with BAE Systems and RAF education for schools helping them to uncover the role played by Mathematics within Science, Technology and Engineering. The roadshow will be taking place on the 3rd July at the museum. To find out more please contact us.

Throughout the school holidays the Royal Navy Submarine Museum is an approved Learning Destination with the Children's University Havant. This means that children and families who undertake any extra cirrcular learning outside school hours can gain recognition for their achivements. Come along to our holiday workshops and bring along your Learning Passport to be stamped by our Education team.