RHS Garden Rosemoor
Photos of RHS Garden Rosemoor
What will students see and do?
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the UK’s leading gardening charity and has several gardens around the UK, including the beautiful RHS Garden Rosemoor in North Devon.
Students visiting Rosemoor will get to explore a dedicated teaching and learning centre with two large classrooms, a covered outdoor space, ponds and a teaching garden. They will also discover different landscapes, a fruit and vegetable garden, and various other features across the 65 acres the site has on offer.
The RHS is dedicated to inspiring younger generations to connect to nature and learn how to work in harmony with it. As such, all its trips offer you the chance to introduce children to gardening and caring for the environment. You have a choice of self-guided visits and educational workshops, plus the option of combining experiences for a full day out.
Students will have the chance to experience gardening hands-on, discover different edible plants, search for animals and carry out experiments. They will learn the life cycles of different flora and how to identify flower parts.
There are also opportunities for children to start art projects and discuss the environment as part of their trip.
How does the trip link to the curriculum?
The school workshops at RHS Garden Rosemoor are perfect for science trips or even history trips, and all have been designed with the national curriculum in mind.
Primary school workshops include ‘Who Lives in Our Garden?’, ‘Fantastic Food’, ‘Planting for the Planet’ and ‘Gardens are Good for You’.
The RHS has also worked with secondary schools to develop suitable learning opportunities, activities and workshops.
It is best to contact RHS Rosemoor directly to see what it can offer your students, but some example workshop titles include ‘Soil Testing’, ‘Classification’, ‘Field Studies’ and ‘Propagation Techniques’.
Soil Testing and Field Studies focus on pH testing and other experiments well suited to science-based trips. Students will be able to collect data using different equipment and learn different scientific methods to study plants. For students who like art, there are also school workshops that focus on studying plants and recreating them.
All school workshops and self-guided trips offer the chance for pupils to develop problem-solving skills. For many children, gardening will be an activity outside of their comfort zone; however, the lessons are designed so students will be learning through play. They will not only receive valuable lessons that relate directly to the national curriculum but also essential life skills.
Subjects covered
Teaching resources provided
RHS Garden Rosemoor supplies teaching resources for its entire programme of school workshops. Indeed, all RHS gardens offer comprehensive teaching tools so students can have the best educational learning experience on-site, and the charity’s education teams work directly with secondary and primary schools to understand what students need.
At Rosemoor, the Peter Buckley Learning Facility and Teaching Garden were designed to support learning through play and are suitable for students of all ages.
The RHS also provides a variety of self-guided activity sheets for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, themed around topics such as animals, trees, flowers and more.
Qualified teachers and experienced volunteers run the garden’s guided visits. You will receive guidance on the specific teaching resources RHS provides when you complete the booking form and decide on your workshop.
However, if there are different activities or resources you would like to incorporate, you can discuss this with the team. RHS Rosemoor has experience delivering classes for whole year groups in rotation, so it can cater for different needs.
Minimum and maximum group size
There is no minimum or a maximum number of students for visits, but RHS Rosemoor has staffing ratio requirements that you need to follow:
– Special needs – 1:1
– Foundation Stage – 1:4
– Years 1–3 – 1:6
– Years 4–6 – 1:8
For all other age groups, you need to have one adult for every ten students for health and safety reasons.
During school workshops, there will be at least one member of the education team available. If you decide to partake in a self-guided visit, RHS staff will be able to provide supervision.
For any other questions about RHS staff ratios and student numbers, contact RHS Rosemoor directly.
Details of risk assessment
RHS staff have risk assessments for school workshops delivered where its staff are present. However, you should create your own risk assessment too. RHS will provide guidance with your booking form.
The team at Rosemoor encourage teachers to make a pre-visit to the gardens to help inform risk assessments. There is wheelchair access, first aid cover in the garden and third-party insurance, but you need to be covered by your school’s public liability insurance.
Don't miss our downloadable A-Z guide on completing a risk assessment
Facilities On-Site
RHS Rosemoor’s Peter Buckley Learning Centre and Teaching Garden are available for guided visits and school workshops.
There are cloakrooms to store coats, bags and packed lunches for guided visits. There are also picnic areas, a teaching terrace, classrooms and toilets, as well as areas for children to play.
Opening Times
School workshops are one to two hours long and can be booked in the morning between 10am to 12pm or in the afternoon between 12.30pm and 2.30pm.
RHS Garden Rosemoor is open 10am to 4pm every day except Christmas Day.
Pricing
All primary school and secondary school educational visits are free, but teachers must book in advance. Email rosemoorschools@rhs.org.uk or call 01805 626 855 to request a booking form.
Travel arrangements
RHS Garden Rosemoor can be accessed by coach using the Satnav reference ‘EX38 8PH’. The garden is one hour from the M5 at Tiverton (junction 27, around 50 minutes from Exeter or 20 minutes from Barnstaple.
You can find the garden on the A3124, one mile south of Great Torrington. There is a large car park by the welcome building.
Address
RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, North Devon
EX38 8PH
Book your school trip to RHS Garden Rosemoor
For information on booking your school trip to this venue, click below.
Teachers also looked at...
Explore by Region
