North Yorkshire Moors Railway

What We Offer Visiting Schools

Schools and youth groups can choose from a menu of fixed, ready-to-book packages, each built around a journey on our heritage line through the North York Moors National Park:

• Facilitated workshops for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 (and youth groups by age), combining a curriculum-linked, hands-on session with a steam or heritage-diesel journey.
• A full-day Moors-to-Coast option combining a workshop, a guided Rail Trail walk and a journey through to the Whitby coast.
• A station-based EYFS offer – for our youngest visitors, a sensory, story-led workshop and play session at the station, with no train ride.
• Journey-only visits for groups wanting a self-guided day out, booked at our standard group travel rates.

Each workshop package uses set train times and a fixed itinerary, so planning is simple, and self-led activity resources are included free for teachers to extend the visit. Bespoke days can be arranged for groups needing something outside the published packages.

Why Choose Us for an Educational Visit

• A genuine heritage setting – a working steam railway through a National Park – that brings history, science and engineering to life in a way the classroom can’t.
• Active, hands-on learning: pupils decode semaphore, build electrical circuits, program robots, explore their surroundings through station tours, handle real Victorian artefacts and watch a live steam-power demonstration.
• Curriculum-linked sessions designed with schools, labelled by key stage with suggested age ranges so youth and uniformed groups can self-select.
• Delivered by experienced education staff and trained volunteers, using objects from NYMR’s own archive and heritage collection.
• Fixed packages with set train times make booking and planning straightforward.

Subjects and Topics Covered

• History: Victorians and the Industrial Revolution; the coming of the railway; how stations and communities grew; railway safety and communication through time.
• Science: states of matter and how steam power works; energy sources (renewable and non-renewable / fossil fuels); fossil formation; electricity and simple circuits; sustainability and climate change.
• Computing: sequencing, algorithms and debugging (programming a robot).
• Geography: the North York Moors landscape and the line from moors to coast.
• EYFS: Understanding the World, Communication and Language, and Expressive Arts and Design, through sensory and role play.

Accreditation and Awards

North Yorkshire Moors Railway is an Accredited Museum, and its education sessions draw on objects from the railway’s archive and heritage collection.

Group Sizes Catered For

Workshops run for up to 30 pupils per session, with larger groups split into back-to-back sessions (so single classes through to whole year groups can be accommodated). EYFS sessions take up to 20 children per session. Adult-to-child ratios apply (1:10 for KS1–KS2 packages; 1:4 for EYFS).

Itineraries, Resources, and Workshops

Packages run to set times on the main running timetable. Self-led activity trails and resource packs are included free with every workshop for teachers to extend the day.

King Coal

(KS1/KS2, ages 5–11, Goathland). Coal, steam and the Victorians: pupils examine Victorian coins, explore renewable and non-renewable energy and how fossils and coal form, discover states of matter and how steam powers a locomotive through a live demonstration, and hear the story of the railway and the Industrial Revolution — finishing with an outdoor Mini Station Tour reading the station’s industrial past (coal drop, water tower, stone crusher, cattle dock) from archive images and clues.

Two starts:

• from Pickering (10:55 · Goathland 11:50 · workshop 12:05–13:05 · return 13:55 · Pickering 14:50)
• from Whitby (10:00 · Goathland 10:35 · workshop 11:00–12:00 · Goathland 12:55 · Whitby 13:50)

Signaller’s Challenge

(KS1/KS2, ages 5–11, Pickering). How the railway keeps trains safely apart: pupils decode semaphore messages, meet the Railway Bobbies and their hand signals, foghorns and detonators, and learn how semaphore signals and the signal box work — including a demonstration signal-box tour and the single-line token system. Two hands-on strands: KS1 build a working circuit with a reed switch that detects a passing train; KS2 program a robot along a coded route and learn to debug. Two routes:

• a round trip to Goathland (workshop 09:30–10:30 · 10:55 · return 13:55 · Pickering 14:50)
• on to the coast (workshop 10:30–11:30 · 12:00 · Whitby 13:50, coach pick-up).

Moors-to-Coast Big Day Out

(KS2, ages 7–14). A full day linking heritage engineering, landscape and the seaside: coach drop at Goathland (09:30), King Coal workshop (09:50–10:50), a guided Rail Trail walk to Grosmont (3.5 miles, 1.5–2 hrs), then Grosmont 12:55 · Whitby 13:50 for an afternoon at the coast and coach home. Weather-dependent; not suitable for EYFS/KS1.

Sensational Stations

(EYFS, ages 2–5, Pickering). A sensory, story-led introduction to the railway and the people who work on it: built around the picture book “And the Train Goes…” with actions, egg-shakers and song; a suitcase of railway objects to explore by touch, sound and smell; matching cartoon railway roles to their jobs; a sing-along and station role play; and platform train-watching around the 10:55 departure. A Pickering-based workshop and play session with a picnic lunch and no train ride; train travel can be added by arrangement.

Risk Assessment

Full risk assessments are available in advance, and free pre-visit / familiarisation visits can be arranged so staff can plan and assess the site. On the day, groups receive a health-and-safety briefing on arrival, high-visibility jackets are provided for pupils, and platform and car-park movements are supervised by NYMR staff and volunteers. Sessions are delivered by trained education staff and volunteers.

Education Department Information

Visits are coordinated by NYMR’s Learning and Interpretation team, led by Rhiannon Hope, Learning & Interpretation Lead, and delivered by experienced education staff and trained volunteers. Enquiries: learning@nymr.co.uk / 01751 477700. Safeguarding is a priority: all education staff and volunteers have an enhanced DBS check.

Pricing Information

• Workshop packages (King Coal, Signaller’s Challenge, Moors-to-Coast): £10 per child. One accompanying adult travels free for every 10 children; additional adults £10.
• Sensational Stations (EYFS): £5 per child. One adult free for every 4 children (1:4 ratio).
• Journey-only visits: schools and youth groups wanting to travel without a workshop are booked at NYMR’s standard group travel rates through Customer Services.
• Bespoke visits: £100 planning fee, with discretionary support for groups where cost would otherwise be a barrier.

Facilities

Dedicated learning spaces – a classroom at Pickering and the Learning Coach at Goathland – plus a demonstration signal box. Stations have tearooms and cafés, shops, toilets and picnic areas, with parking at Pickering. Pupils travel in reserved carriage space on scheduled heritage services.

Accessibility and Disabled Facilities

Pickering and Grosmont stations offer level access and accessible toilets, and accessible carriage space can be arranged. Some heritage stations have steeper gradients – for example, the route from Goathland’s car park to the platform is steep and may not suit wheelchair users or those with limited mobility – so we recommend discussing specific access needs when booking, or on a free familiarisation visit, so the day can be planned accordingly. Guide dogs are welcome.

Opening Hours

School and youth-group workshops run on our usual operating days, Monday to Wednesday and Saturday, through the main running season. EYFS sessions run Monday to Wednesday (and, as they don’t use a train, other days by arrangement). Session times align with the timetable, so early booking is recommended.