School Visits

Please read through our Group Visits page and bear in mind the following:

• You will need to ask for access to running water (which is suitable for drinking), as the taps are generally located in areas not accessible to the public. If children are taken into such areas for hand washing or filling water bottles, they must be very closely supervised for their own safety and to avoid disrupting any work going on in the vicinity.
• We strongly advise against wearing school uniform, as some of the activities can be messy, and the site itself can be muddy.
• Please complete our Group visit booking form if you would like to arrange a visit.

Health & Safety

Health and safety are paramount at the excavation site. The area around the excavation trench is both narrow and busy, with a variety of potential hazards, including pegs set in the ground, ropes, wheelbarrows and other equipment, and a generally uneven surface. The first rule for visitors is no running! If children are seen running, staff at the site will almost certainly shout at them to stop! Please remember, however, that it is the responsibility of school staff and helpers to ensure that children behave in an appropriate way. If anyone persists in running, they will be asked to leave the site, as they present too great a hazard to themselves and those working there.

Likewise, artefacts and equipment can be touched only with permission from staff and student helpers at the site.

Visitors must stay within the designated public areas, which include access to the small Visitor Cabin, the portaloos, the activity areas, and two viewing platforms running either side of the trench. Care should be taken on the slopes up to the platforms, as the planks of wood are often uneven and present a tripping hazard. Visitors must not go into or within a metre of the edge of the trench, for safety reasons and because access is needed at all times.

A risk assessment document for the excavation and Field School, including passages about visitor safety, is available on request. We are not currently able to provide a specific risk assessment for school group parties; it is the school’s group leaders responsibility to request and submit the appropriate information for such purposes.

Accessibility

Please read our Silchester Field School Accessibility page.

Lunch Arrangements

There are no picnicking facilities at the excavation site, nor any sheltered area to use in wet or hot weather. We suggest that snacks and packed lunches are eaten on a grassy patch near the walls, in the car park, or at the amphitheatre. Our staff need their lunch break so no personnel will be on duty between 1:00 and 1:45pm.

Please note that it is not possible to purchase any food and drink anywhere on the site. The nearest shops are in Silchester and Mortimer.

Time on site

You should allow around 15 minutes for each chosen site-based activity (see below) to a maximum of 90 minutes of activities. If the class is being divided into two groups, you should allow for each group to spend 60 minutes enjoying activities on site, and 60 minutes for walking the walls and visiting the amphitheatre. Visits should be either morning or afternoon, rather than across lunchtime, as all activity on site stops between 1 and 2pm, and there are no students available to run activities.

Activities

Our activities tend to be closely related to the archaeological activity and discoveries at Silchester rather than exclusively to a Roman theme. We use a range of activities to explore the nature of archaeology and how it tells us about the past. We strongly suggest a complementary visit to the Museum of Reading, where museum staff organise school sessions focusing closely on Roman life and times, supported by artefacts and other evidence from Silchester. Please contact the Museum on 0118 937 3400 or visit the reading museum's schools page for further information or to book a session.

We can usually offer the following activities at the excavation site. You should allow around 15 minutes for each activity per group. The activities can generally run concurrently, subject to the availability of student helpers. Please note that a teacher or helper from the school party must accompany each activity group. The students and staff at Silchester cannot be responsible for the supervision of children; they will simply organise and present the activities.

Children's finds pit

Using trowels to unearth fragments of pottery, building material, animal bone, etc. Around six children can use the pit at any one time. Children may take home their two favourite 'finds'. It is sometimes possible to provide bowls of water and toothbrushes for cleaning finds, depending on numbers in the group and the availability of equipment and student helpers.

Planning Exercise

Observing features in a mock 'pit' and recording them on a grid, in imitation of one of the activities that can be observed on site. Five to six children can be accommodated at a time, depending on age and ability (younger or less able children will require close supervision by student helpers if they are to get the most from the task).

Activity Sheets

A variety of tasks for different ages and abilities, some of which can be completed away from the site. Typical sheets include:

• I-Spy trails - observing and learning about features and activities that can be viewed from the observation platforms at the site
• Wordsearch featuring words relating to Silchester, the Romans and archaeology
• Colouring
• Drawing or completing drawings of artefacts

Tours

Students will take groups of children onto the viewing platforms at the sides of the trench and explain the archaeological features and activities that can be observed and how we learn about life at Silchester in Roman times from what we see and find there. Any group size, up to around 15, depending on age.

Dressing Up

Dressing up in 'Roman' costume (for children up to age 11). Up to six children can dress up at any one time. Costume sizes vary and not all children will fit in all costumes. Students will assist with putting on costumes and providing information about what was worn by whom, and why.

Finds Handling and Recognition

Children of any age will be able to handle a range of finds in the 'handling collection', including various kinds of pottery, ceramic building materials, and animal bones. Student helpers use the trays to explain the nature of finds at Silchester, how they are sorted, and what they can tell us about life there in Roman times. A modern-day finds tray (including such items as crisp packets, empty soft-drink bottles, and discarded ball-point pens) is used to relate items such as animal bones and pottery fragments to modern life, and to explore the nature of archaeological finds as 'rubbish'. Up to eight children can handle and learn about finds at any one time.

Talks

Talks on the practice of archaeology and its tools - student helpers will explain more about what archaeology is and how we go about it, including showing and describing the use of a range of archaeological tools. Groups of up to six children will be able to handle (but not use!) most tools, under supervision.