Home Educator Visit Day: Space & Technology

Space & Technology

Home Educator Visit Day to the Science Oxford Centre: engaging and educational opportunities for home educators. Tailored for home schooling, our events, activities and hands-on experiments aim to ignite curiosity and engage critical thinking and scientific exploration.

Suitable for families with children aged 7-11 years within Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Each child must be supervised by an accompanying adult at all times. (Minimum 1 adult per 4 children.)

10am - 2pm

Price (inc. fees and VAT) £20 per child (includes one accompanying adult)

£5 additional adults (select ticket/s via 'add on')

What is included:

• Access to the Exploration Zone and woodland areas between 10am and 2pm.
• Planetarium: Out in Space Show
• Micro:bit Codebreakers Workshop
• Access to The Hub lunch area

What is not included:

• Public parking is not available at the Science Oxford Centre on weekdays – we recommend using the Park and Ride, public transport, or cycling (please let us know if you have any accessibility requirements).
• The Science Oxford Centre café 'Emira’s Kitchen' is not available – please bring your own packed lunch and we will provide a self-service station for hot and cold drinks.

Event information

Our Home Educator events are tailored for children aged between 7-11 years old, and unfortunately, they are not suitable for children under 5 years old so we cannot accommodate additional younger siblings during your visit.

Activity sessions are booked in advance - please reserve your preferred timeslot for each of the two activities when booking your ticket in Eventbrite. Activities will all be tailored suitably for children aged 7-11.

Entry to the building will not be permitted before 09:45 and visitors must depart from the site by 14:15.

Activites

Planetarium: Out in Space Show Immersed in our inflatable dome, children will have a 180-degree view of the night sky above them. They will learn about the movement of the Earth, Moon and other planets, relative to the sun in our solar system, how and why the sky changes throughout the year and tour some of the other bodies in our solar system. Children will be able to explore the stars in a learning environment that is out of this world.

Micro:bit Codebreakers Workshop Children will learn how to use a BBC micro:bit to send messages to each other, considering the importance of privacy while trying to work out who their secret agent partner is, and then try their hand at some basic encryption techniques. This workshop is run using the MakeCode editor (similar to the popular coding language, Scratch), or can instead give your children a fun introduction to the text-based coding language Python (for experienced learners).

Example Timetable

09:45-10:10 Arrive at the Centre, check in and register for your activity sessions

10:10-11:00 Activity Session 1 (choice of the Planetarium: Out in Space Show or Micro:bit Codebreakers Workshop - or self-guided access to the Exploration Zone, Woodland or Water Lab)

11:00-11:20 Break time

11:20-12:10 Activity Session 2 (as above)

12:10-12:50 Lunch and free time (Water Lab closed between ~12:00-12:30)

12:50-13:40 Activity Session 3 (self-guided access to the Exploration Zone, Woodland or Water Lab only)

13:40-14:15 Free time and time to go!

Visiting the Science Oxford Centre

Here are links to our accessible resources to help prepare for your visit, including our virtual tour and centre floorplan map.

Science Oxford Centre visiting information and FAQs please visit here.

For information on our refund policy and event terms and conditions visit here.

Contact

Contact [email protected] or call 01865 810000

Important notice: Centre works Due to the ongoing site improvement works, you may notice some changes to the area immediately outside the centre. There may be temporary diversions in place directing access to the woodland and trails. If you have any queries, please contact us via [email protected] or 01865 810000. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we complete these necessary improvements.

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