The Golden Hinde School Tours and Workshops London

Step aboard a full-size reconstruction of the famous Golden Hinde – the first English ship to circumnavigate the globe.

Under the command of Sir Francis Drake, the crew faced considerable challenges along the way including skirmishes, storms and scurvy. Our education facilitators bring this incredible journey to life and describe the sailors’ gruelling experience on a 16th Century galleon.

From Early Years through to KS4, we offer a range of exciting educational programmes designed to complement the National Curriculum.

School Tours London
Workshops London
Ships London
Historical heritage London

From Early Years to KS4, The Golden Hinde offers exciting and engaging educational programmes for all ages which are designed to complement the National Curriculum.

Our offerings include one-hour sessions on pirates, the story of Drake’s circumnavigation and the Spanish Armada.

We also offer an immersive learning experience for students as a three-hour Daytime Living History experience, or our ever-popular Overnight Living History programme where students bunk-down on the ship to learn first-hand how sailors would have lived in the Tudor period. 

We believe that hands-on activities like firing the cannon and raising the anchor help pupils get the most of their visit and make it a trip to remember.

Early Years Foundation Stage: Ship Ahoy!

Eye-patches on, peg legs in, parrots at the ready – let our 1 hour sailor boot camp commence! As the children explore each deck, they’ll learn about the crew that worked aboard The Golden Hinde and help the crew do important work like load the cannon!

Learning Objectives

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Identify ways in which people lived differently in the past.
• Describe at least three different roles of sailors on a Tudor ship.
• Participate in role-play and imaginative storytelling as pirates, sailors, and explorers to explore historical perspectives.

KS1: Pirates

Join the crew of The Golden Hinde as we learn all about life onboard an Elizabethan galleon. During this 1 hour programme, participants will learn about pirate phrases and create their own pirate persona!

Learning Objectives

By the end of the programme, students will be able to: 

• Identify and describe at least three ways in which life 500 years ago differed from life today.
• Define and correctly use key historical and nautical vocabulary in context (spoken or written).
• Create and present a pirate identity, demonstrating imagination and application of historical vocabulary.

The ship offers two 1 hour programmes – The Voyage of the Golden Hinde and the story of Drake’s Circumnavigation. Both involve exploring the motivations for the voyage, interactions with Spanish and Indigenous peoples, and discussions of legacy and power to fit your audience. While learning, students will receive a guided tour through the ship to discover what life was like aboard a ship 500 years ago.

The Voyage of the Golden Hinde 

Learning Objectives

KS1

By the end of the programme, students will be able to: 

• Describe aspects of life at sea during the Elizabethan period and identify how it differed from life today.
• Explain why Queen Elizabeth I supported Francis Drake’s voyage and provide at least one motivation for the voyage.
• Participate in role play onboard a historic ship.

KS2

By the end of the programme, students will be able to: 

• Explore England’s motivations during the Age of Exploration and communicate at least two reasons for the voyage of the Golden Hinde.
• Discuss key events of the voyage and consider different perspectives on these events.
• Reflect on Francis Drake’s legacy, recognising that his actions can be interpreted differently depending on one’s viewpoint..

KS3/4: Drake’s Circumnavigation 

Learning Objectives

By the end of the programme, students will be able to: 

• Understand more about pirates from different places and points in history or find out about the history of Francis Drake and his 1577-80 circumnavigation of the world.
• Understand day-to-day life on an Elizabethan ship and how it differs from their own experiences.
• Develop skills of comparison, enquiry and communication.
• Develop creative writing and drawing skills.

KS2: Daytime Living History/Overnight Living History

We also offer a 3 hour Daytime Living History programme in which your group becomes the crew of the Golden Hinde and experiences life as a 16th Century mariner through hands-on activities and immersive role-play. Dressed in Elizabethan costume, characters from the ship’s history will guide you and recount lurid tales of bloodletting and limb removal from the grisly Barber Surgeon, lightning-quick gun drills with the excitable Gunner and mastery of the navigational arts with the ship’s Master.

In our Overnight Living History programme, students and teachers will bunker down for the night in authentic quarters on the ship’s gundeck! Pupils will also be provided with our pre- and post-visit resources, designed to encourage them to respond critically and creatively and get the most out of their visit. Dinner and breakfast are provided for overnight programmes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• To find out about the history of Francis Drake and his 1577-80 circumnavigation of the world.
• To understand day-to-day life on an Elizabethan ship and how it differs from their
• own experiences.
• To develop skills of comparison, enquiry and communication.
• To develop creative writing and drawing skills.

Curriculum links

KS2 History, KS2 English, KS2 Art and Design

KS3/ 4: The Spanish Armada

Through interactive maps, replica handling sessions and a guided exploration of the Golden Hinde, students will be asked to think critically about the motivations behind the Spanish Armada.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Recognise the factors that impacted the failure of the 1588 Armada and be able to argue their importance.
• Utilise the environment of the ship and its replica collection to gain a clear understanding of the difficulties and dangers faced by 16th Century mariners.
• Develop historical skills of enquiry, comparison, and debate.

Tours: Minimum for a booking is 15 students and the maximum is 30 students per group. Groups larger than 30 students will be split into multiple sessions with at least 30 minutes between start times.

Daytime and Overnight Living History programmes: Minimum for a booking is 20 (including adults) and the maximum is 40 (including adults). Please note that we require a minimum of 3 adults irrespective of group size for our Living History programmes.

We offer a Golden Hinde Play Pack (EYS, KS1 & 2) with lots of ideas for young sailors to make and do, plus a Sailor’s Journal (KS1 & 2) encouraging children to imagine, draw and write about their own ocean voyage. Both are downloadable from our website.

We also have a downloadable interactive map for KS2 learners which has been specially created to complement the national curriculum.

All groups are welcome to take photos and film for limited times during their visit on the ship.

We provide a risk assessment guide and recommend teachers visit our site in advance to carry out their own risk assessment. Pre-visit site tours can be scheduled with our Education Department.

For all enquiries, please contact our Education Team on edu@goldenhinde.co.uk or visit our website: https://www.goldenhinde.co.uk/learning

Our one hour programmes are currently priced at £8 per student. One adult per eight students is admitted free of charge; any additional adults will be charged at the student rate.

Our three-hour workshop (Daytime Living History) is £30 per person.

Our sleepover experience (Overnight Living History) is £45 per person which includes dinner and breakfast.

The ship is not insulated and can therefore get very cold in the winter months so students visiting during winter will need to be dressed appropriately.

We have first aid trained staff; however, we recommend school groups bring a qualified first aider.

We have a designated lunch space in the shipyard, available to book in 30 minute slots for packed lunches. Toilets are available throughout the visit.

There is also a small shop on site with a range of souvenirs and educational items, most priced under £10. Purchases can be made by cash or card.

The ship is not currently accessible for wheelchair users or visitors with mobility impairments. Please note there are steep stairs on the ship and low ceilings. Please reach out to our Education Team at edu@goldenhinde.co.uk to discuss your accessibility requirements prior to your visit

April – October 10:00 – 18:00

November – March 10:00 – 17:00

June 2025 KS1/2 (Voyage of the Golden Hinde): The visit was well-organised, and the timings worked smoothly for our group. The staff were knowledgeable and engaging, and the children were fully immersed in the experience from start to finish.

April 2025, Year 1 (Pirates): It was a perfect experience for our year one children. We enjoyed being immersed in pirate life onboard a realistic ship.

April 2025, Year 3 (Overnight Living History): All leaders and children enjoyed themselves immensely and we would definitely return again. 

March 2025 Year 2 (Voyage of the Golden Hinde): My class loved seeing the artifacts and enjoyed learning how the cannon works. Everything is so lovely! They enjoyed your workshop and are excited to share the information they learned with their friends and the adults at school.

March 2025, Elm Wood Primary, Year 5 (Voyage of the Golden Hinde): The parents all said that the children were buzzing when they got home. The tour guide was so knowledgeable! She made it exciting and fun for the children, and they loved getting involved.

February 2025, St Peter’s School, Kettering, Year 4 (Drake’s Circumnavigation): Incredibly engaging – it stimulated lots of questions and ideas in the children and led to great discussions afterwards. Several were incredibly inspired. They wouldn’t stop talking about it.

January 2025, Colfe’s School, Year 11 (Drake’s Circumnavigation): (The students) really enjoyed it. There was the perfect mix of knowledge they already had from their studies that they got to recall and also new knowledge and interesting information. The stand out feature was the knowledge and passion of the tour guides. They made the experience fun and informative.

We are happy to try and accommodate any special requests for school and group visits.