School trip to Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
Learn from Roald Dahl, master storyteller
They are home to one of the most complete literary archives – of one of the world’s greatest children’s writers, Roald Dahl!
A school visit to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire will support your pupils’ literacy learning. Their Museum is the perfect place to see the writing process in action by one of its masters. Pupils will discover how they can use the same techniques themselves and find out more about Roald Dahl’s life while exploring their fun, interactive galleries.
Their aim is for your visit to to be HANDS-ON, INVESTIGATIVE and EXCITING. Their schools’ programme is delivered by their experienced Learning Team. All of their team hold an Enhanced DBS clearance and regularly review and update their professional skills.
90 minute and 180 minute sessions
They offer two types of sessions. Both types are based around a key literacy area which is the focus throughout your visit.
Sessions for school children 2 to 4 years
Whichever books you’re reading with your class, these sessions will take you behind-the-scenes to discover Roald Dahl’s writing processes…
90 minute sessions
- Exploring Editing
Roald Dahl was a master of the editing process. Explore the galleries to find out about the changes he made to his stories, from James’s giant fruits to Matilda the Miracle Child. Find the editing tools he used in his Writing Hut, then develop a character in their interactive Story Centre by editing a line written by the author. - Crafting Characters
Discover how Roald Dahl found his ideas for creating characters from real life. Explore the galleries, dress up for inspiration and make your own character in their interactive Story Centre using pictures of eyes from Roald Dahl’s archive. - Unlocking Ideas
Get creative in their interactive Story Centre to collect ideas for a class Ideas Book. Explore the galleries to find out about Roald Dahl’s inspiration for the worlds of Charlie, James and Fantastic Mr Fox. Plus discover the author’s own Ideas Book!
180 minute sessions
- Explore the Archive: Undercover Editors
Discover how Roald Dahl edited his work with examples from the archive throughout this session. Get hands-on completing editing activities, gobblefunk around with words like the BFG, and hunt around the Museum for editing examples from the master storyteller. Finally, your class will use all that they have learnt to edit some of Roald Dahl’s own work – will they send it to the publisher and meet the deadline? - Village Trail
You can combine all our sessions with a self-guided Village Trail which will allow you to explore Great Missenden and its connections with Roald Dahl.
Sessions for school children 5 to 8 years
Whichever books you’re reading with your class, these sessions will take you behind-the-scenes to discover Roald Dahl’s writing processes…
90 minute sessions
- Delve into Drafting
After a galleries challenge to learn more about Roald Dahl’s life, you’ll discover how he was the master of re-drafting! Explore Writing Hut, where you’ll see real examples of the changes he made to his work and find out about James’s other giant fruits. Then use these processes to make your own re-drafting decisions. - Building Biography
Explore the galleries to learn about Roald Dahl’s biographical writing techniques from Boy and Going Solo. Discover the ways that he made the everyday seem special through real-life letters, headlines and extracts. Use what you’ve learnt as well as one of their ‘special objects’ to create your own bit of biography. - Unlocking Inspiration
Get creative in their interactive Story Centre to collect ideas for a class Ideas Book. Explore the galleries to find out about Roald Dahl’s inspiration for the worlds of Charlie and James. Then discover the author’s own Ideas Book with real examples that grew into stories like Matilda!
180 minute sessions
- Explore the Archive: Re-drafting Roald Dahl
Discover Roald Dahl’s re-drafting process with examples from the archive throughout this session, including characters from the Chocolate Factory that you won’t have met before. Complete some hands-on editing activities, gobblefunk around with words like the BFG and hunt around the Museum for re-drafting examples from the master storyteller. Put all you’ve learnt into practice as you become an editor: turn Roald Dahl’s text into your own and send your feedback! - Village Trail
You can combine all their sessions with a self-guided Village Trail which will allow you to explore Great Missenden and its connections with Roald Dahl.