KENSINGTON PALACE This is your confirmation pack for visiting Kensington Palace. The pack includes information for teachers/group leaders and students. 1 KENSINGTON PALACE This booklet has been prepared to provide teachers/group leaders with all the information they need to plan a successful trip to Kensington Palace. Please read carefully and complete and return the health and safety agreement forms in advance of your visit. Contents What’s included............................................... Page 3 Preliminary visits.............................................. Page 4 Opening times.................................................. Page 4 Travel arrangements...................................... Page 4 Visit type............................................................. Page 5 Resources........................................................... Page 5 Lunch and cloakrooms.................................. Page 5 Special educational needs........................... Page 6 Disability access.............................................. Page 6 Booking additional places........................... Page 6 Refunds and cancellations........................... Page 6 Health and safety............................................ Page 7 Preliminary visit voucher.............................. Page 10 2 KENSINGTON PALACE Victoria Revealed This exciting new permanent exhibition explores Queen Victoria’s life and reign in her own words through extracts from her diary. You and your students will experience Victoria’s first day as Queen at Kensington Palace, the romance of her early relationship with Prince Albert, moments of family life and aspects of Albert’s involvement in the Great Exhibition. Set within the rooms Victoria lived in as a child the exhibition includes paintings, gifts exchanged between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert during their e ngagement and her wedding dress. The King’s State Apartments Follow in the footsteps of visitors to the court of George I and II. Explore the magnificent set of rooms that make up the King's State Apartments; the King’s Staircase, The Presence Chamber, and The Privy Chamber with its ma gnificent ceiling painted by William Kent in 1723, The Cupola Room, The King's Drawing Room and The Council Chamber where you can see the sort of court dress that would once have been worn in these state rooms. The Queen’s State Apartments Discover the tragic story of young Duke William Henry and the end of the Stuart dynasty in the intimate apartments created for Mary II. Fa shion Rules: dress from the collections of HM the Queen, Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales A nipped-in waist in the 50s, short skirts and diaphanous fabrics in the 60s and 70s, sparkles and shoulder pads in the 80s – these were the fashion rules we all dressed by, even members of the Royal Family. Take a nostalgic look back at recent decades of dress through the wardrobes of three royal women in their fashion heydays. Five rooms of elegant displays explore how these women re flected the trends of the day, negotiating the rules of dressing fashionably within the 'rules' of a royal wardrobe. Featuring 21 couture dresses, the exhibition includes film and photography to set the scene of the times in which these gowns were worn. 3 KENSINGTON PALACE We are pleased to provide a voucher for two complimentary tickets per booking. We recommend that you take advantage of this offer where possible, as most teachers/group leaders find them extremely useful for planning their visit. Your tickets are valid on any day up to the date of your visit and there is no need to queue for tickets, simply present your voucher at the main ticket barrier to gain entry. The voucher can be found on page 10 of this document. Summer Opening (Start of British Summer Time – GMT) 1 March 2013 – 31 October 2014 – 10.00 - 18.00 last admission 17.00 Winter Opening (End of British Summer Time – GMT) 1 November 2014 – 28 February 2015 - 10.00 – 17.00 last admission 16.00 Kensington Palace can be reached by many forms of public transport. Up to date public transport information can be obtained from www.tfl.gov.uk which also has a useful journey planner. Nearest stations Use District or Circle lines to High Street Kensington (10 minutes walking time) Use Central Line to Queensway (5 minutes walking time) or Notting Hill Gate (15 minutes walking time). Bus routes 27, 70, 94, 148 and 390 to Bayswater Road or 9, 10, 49, 52, 70 and 452 to Kensington High Street Coach parking Mini bus drop off and collection is available at Kensington Palace on request only. Please call the Kensington Palace Control Room on 0203 166 6199 to book this in advance of your visit. There is also coach parking available off Bayswater Road near the palace. Contact Euro Carparks 020 7563 3000 for prices and to book. 4 KENSINGTON PALACE Admission only visits Self-lead exploration of the Palace. Please see a member of the welcome team or a welcome volunteer upon arrival. They will register your group and provide you with stickers which will act as your tickets for the day. They will then direct you into the Palace. Taught sessions (includes entry into the palace) There are a number of taught sessions available at Kensington Palace. These must be booked in advance. If you have booked a taught session your session leader will meet you at the group entrance. Please arrive here a few minutes before your designated start time. To assist you in planning your visit we have developed a number of downloadable resources and information about the palace: http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/educationandcommunity/resources/tea chersresources There is one lunchroom at Kensington Palace allocated on a first come first served basis. If you have been allocated a lunchroom slot the time is listed on your confirmation letter which is included with this pack. The lunchroom is accessed by a swipe card which you will be given upon arrival. Please ensure this swipe card is returned when you leave the Palace If you are using the lunchroom please arrive and depart on time, noting that you have been allocated 20 minutes. Please leave the lunchroom as you would like to find it – bins are provided. Unfortunately we are unable to provide drinking water for groups, so please ensure you bring plenty yourselves. There are various picnic areas in Kensington Gardens; the closest is by the Diana Princess of Wales playground near Orme Square and Black Lion Gate. You can also use the meadow area in the Palace Gardens. Our cloakroom is located at the group entrance. You can leave coats, bags and lunch boxes here. 5 KENSINGTON PALACE Please let us know as soon as possible if any of your students have special needs and/or health or mobility issues. We will make arrangements to maximise their enjoyment of the visit. Kensington Palace is accessible to all, with level access to all areas of the palace and a lift to all floors. The Clore Learning Centre is based on the ground floor of the palace and has accessible toilets, teaching spaces and lunchrooms. Sessions will take place in the Clore Learning Centre or in our breakout spaces; accessible by lift. Please inform the Kensington Palace Learning team at least two weeks in advance of your booking if you wish to bring additional students to the palace. This should be d o n e by e m a i l [email protected]. If you b r i n g a d d i t i o n a l students on the day of your visit only Standard Group Rate tickets are available. This is also true for any additional adults. Please note that no refunds will be given for cancellations made less than six weeks in advance of your visit, or for tickets purchased in advance that are not used on the day. If a cancellation has to be made because of exceptional circumstances, then every effort will be made to reschedule your visit. 6 KENSINGTON PALACE We carry out risk assessments on all of our activities. The risks associated with visiting Kensington Palace have been assessed as very low. A summary of the main risks can be found below: Supervision Your students must be supervised at all times. We interpret supervision to mean that at all times teachers/group leaders will remain in the physical presence of the group of students for which they are responsible. No students should be allowed to move around Kensington Palace without a teacher/group leader with them. Your group will need a minimum of one accompanying adult per ten students aged 7-16 and one per five children aged 4-7. We retain the right to refuse entry to groups without a sufficient number of accompanying adults. Equipment Any equipment provided by Historic Royal Palaces has been risk assessed and is deemed to represent a very low risk of an accident occurring. At the beginning of your visit, a member of staff may issue specific instructions. It is important that the lead teacher/all accompanying group leaders listen to and follow these instructions. Insurance Historic Royal Palaces has public liability insurance for ‘no less than £5 million’ with Royal Sun Alliance. Details can be provided on request. Accidents If there is an accident or near accident during your visit, please find the nearest Front of House Warder, or member of staff who will be able to help you. A record will be made of any accident that occurs. In case of evacuation Please respond to the directions of the Front of House Warders or other members of Historic Royal Palaces staff. The meeting point for all visitors is the Orangery Lawn near the main entrance to the palace. 7 KENSINGTON PALACE Slip, trips and falls whilst Introductory talk at start of Very low walking over uneven ground activity. within the Palace and Adequate supervision of group by grounds, e.g. floor coverings, responsible adults.