English Heritage has launched new workshops at Stonehenge, held in a historically accurate Neolithic hall and a learning centre opening to schools after February half-term.
Schools can now book workshops in the newly opened Kusuma Neolithic Hall and the Learning Centre which officially opens after February half-term. These dedicated education spaces will be used by pupils to delve deeper into the stories, science and people behind the world-famous prehistoric monument.
A Discovery Visit programme has been designed by English Heritage for pupils in EYFS and Key Stages 1-4. Sessions last up to one and a half hours and include activities that link topics across history, geography and science to the people and landscape of Stonehenge.
Sessions will take place outside in the World Heritage landscape, in the Learning Centre and in the Kusuma Neolithic Hall - the latter of which was constructed by volunteers using historically authentic methods and locally sourced materials and completed in May.
New learning spaces
The Kusuma Neolithic Hall is open now and hosting Discovery Visits. The hall has been designed and constructed to be an authentic replica of a Neolithic building which would have existed over 4,000 years ago. It took more than 100 volunteers nine months to build the hall using historically accurate techniques and local materials such as thatch, coppiced timber and chalk daub.
The new Learning Centre is due to be completed later this year with sessions taking place from February 2027. It will house the Clore Discovery Lab, Weston Learning Studio, digital production studio, Wolfson Foyer and The Omaze Community Courtyard to support sensory learning. Facilities for schools will include a Changing Places space and a smaller breakout area for those with different educational needs.
Workshops and activities
The hands-on activities are inspired by Stonehenge’s Neoltihic creators and include mixing pigment paints, making pottery and experimenting with the replica tools and materials that would have been used to construct the stone circle.
The Discovery Visit programme has been developed with a wide range of subjects in mind, including science and design & technology. One of the new sessions, Ancient Alignments: Earth and Space at Stonehenge (KS2), involves a virtual tour of the night sky to see how it appeared to Neolithic people and creating a human solar system to learn how Stonehenge acted as a calendar to mark the movements of the sun and seasons. This comes as the charity reports an increase in demand for STEM learning experiences following the emphasis on STEM learning in the Department for Education’s new Enrichment Framework.
Other workshops available to book now for February 2027 onwards include Building Stonehenge: A Neolithic Challenge (KS2), Storytime at Stonehenge (EYFS), and Recreating Stonehenge: A STEM Challenge (KS3).
Visits to Stonehenge remain free for schools with Discovery Visits provided for an additional cost. Each session can accommodate up to 30 pupils.
Find out more about school visits to Stonehenge at english-heritage.org.uk/school-visits.
