Creative Learning and Discovery | Visiting with a school

Built to the glory of God, the Cathedral is a living church that has been at the centre of life in Chichester for over nine centuries.

We invite children and young people to explore and discover our sacred space, its fascinating history and inspiring art for themselves. Our new Creative Learning and Discovery team was established in September 2024. Our creative learning programme, which includes workshops for schools, will unfold over 2025 as part of our 950 celebrations.

Plan your visit

We are currently taking bookings for our fully self-guided visits.

Our fully Self-Guided Visits (price on enquiry) are great for schools wishing to visit us on a fully self-guided basis. Your time in the Cathedral can include completing sketch drawings or creative writing.

Coming up

In Spring 2025 we will also be launching the following visits. Themes for the creative workshops will be announced in the new year.

Self-Guided Tour
1-2 hour- £3.00 per pupil and includes a downloadable worksheet and teacher information pack.
Half Day Visit
2-3 hours – Self – Guided tour and a 1hr facilitated creative workshop - £5.50 per pupil and includes a downloadable worksheet and teacher information pack for the self-guided tour.
Full Day Visit
4-5 hours – Self – Guided tour and two 1hr creative workshops - £8.50 per pupil and includes a downloadable worksheet and teacher pack for the self-guided tour.

A typical booking journey

Complete an enquiry form. Include special considerations or any additional needs.

Our team will let you know if the date is available or offer alternatives.

You can accept the provisional date and learning offer by return email.

Our team will issue a confirmation email and offer further planning help.

Enjoy your visit! We look forward to welcoming you.

Short visits and visits for specialist providers

If you’re planning a drop-in visit or a short visit (less than 45 minutes), you’ll still need to book, on our booking form we'll ask you about your intentions and any specific needs when you enquire. If you work for a specialist provider, we can work with you to find dates and times of day where the atmosphere in the cathedral is most suited to your pupils' needs and help make sure they have access to facilities that they might need to make their visit comfortable.

Ready to find out more?

Click the button below to read and download our teacher information pack to help you plan your visit.

Educational Visits – Teacher Information Pack

Provisional booking form

Contact information

Name of school

Name of contact

Contact’s job title

School address

Address Line 1

City/Town

ZIP/Postal Code

Contact telephone number

Contact email address

Are you happy to have this email address added to our Education mailing list to hear about upcoming education events?

Visit information – Date and time preferences

Please note that we will try our best to accommodate your first preference, however, on some occasions this may not be possible.

Aim of visit

Preference 1

Preference 2

Preference 3

Year Group

No. of pupils

No. of staff

*Adult to Child Ratio information can be found in drop down menu below.

Does anyone in your party (staff or children) have any additional needs we should be aware of?

Do you require a lunch space while you are with us?

Yes

Please note that our lunch space can hold up to 45 students and 5 staff maximum.

The use of our lunch space comes with no additional charge if it is used as part of an organised activity at the Cathedral. If you would like to use the lunch space as part of a trip to other organisations in the city there is a charge of £20.00 per hour.

Terms & Conditions for School Visits

Terms of booking

Whilst taking all reasonable measures to ensure the safety and security of pupils/students, we are unable to accept responsibility for any accident or misadventure throughout the duration of the visit. All participants are advised that they should check their insurance.

Staff are encouraged to make a site visit prior to the day and guidelines for a risk assessment is attached along with this provisional booking form for your information. Please note that while at the Cathedral responsibility for pupil/ students’ health, safety and behaviour remains with the school and its staff.

We understand that teachers often need to plan their visits a long time in advance, and indeed this is helpful for us. However, circumstances can arise which affect the availability of your dates, and in a worst-case scenario the booking may have to be cancelled. We will do everything in our power to make alternative arrangements with you. But failing that, we regret that any costs you have incurred that may have been paid in advance, cannot be reimbursed. We will give the maximum notice possible.

Occasionally circumstances arise whereby a special service has to be arranged at short notice, such as a funeral, and we reserve the right to alter the event as required but we will endeavour to make the experience as good as possible and close to what was originally intended.

Visiting schools are strongly advised to ensure that pupils/students do not leave valuables unattended in any part of the Cathedral. We regret that the Cathedral cannot be held responsible for the safety of possessions and valuables.

If you are using a lunch space during the visit you are responsible for ensuring the lunch space is left clean and tidy.

Conditions of booking

Once your visit date is confirmed we will require you to confirm you have completed a safeguarding risk assessment, health and safety risk assessment and reconfirm your student to teacher ratio 14 days in advance of your visit.

Chichester Cathedral is a Christian place of worship. Prayers are said on the hour from the pulpit and are broadcast over the Cathedral PA system. If your visit coincides with our hourly prayers, we ask for quiet as a mark of respect to our Christian community. If you would like to take part in an act of worship on your visit, we are happy to help arrange this.

It is common for difficult topics to arise when visiting the Cathedral with children and young people. Please consider their need for support whilst engaging with these themes. We often get lively, thought-provoking questions from children and young people visiting us. We love discovering and exploring these questions together as a group and we welcome those of faith and none to explore the bigger questions of life while they are with us. Your enthusiasm in helping children and young people understand and talk about difficult questions is a way in which everyone can get the most out of their visit.

Occasionally circumstances arise whereby a special service must be arranged at short notice, such as a funeral, and we reserve the right to alter your visit as required but we will endeavour to make the experience as good as possible and close to what was originally intended. On rare occasions we may need to cancel your original date and offer an alternative date.

Adult to Child Ratio*

Ensure that the group is appropriately supervised by the appropriate adult to child ratio based on the age of the children. Ideally this should be:

Age	Adult to child ratio
0-2 years	I adult to 3 children
2-3 years	1 adult to 4 children
4-8 years	1 adult to 6 children
9-12 years	I adult to 8 children
13-18 years	1 adult to 10 children

NB: In a mixed age group, the ratio should always be according to the youngest child.

Cathedral Shop

If you wish to visit the Cathedral shop, please let us know and we will try to arrange this as part of your schedule.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your warm welcome and for such a fantastic visit for our children. The peace and calm of the Cathedral and the opportunity to experience and encounter different parts of this beautiful space was inspiring. They absolutely loved it.
Primary school teacher visiting with year 6 pupils

Have a question about school visits?

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