Education & Youth Groups at Waitangi
Covid-19 Alert Level 2 Update: we are now OPEN. We are following Public Health guidelines and are admitting small groups. We appreciate that schools may not be able to arrange field trips at this time, however, we have recently updated an excellent virtual visit programme, enabling schools to participate in online learning with our educators. See Virtual Visits for more information.
The on-site and hands-on learning experiences at the Treaty Grounds provide excellent opportunities for children to critically engage with Waitangi, the place, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and The Treaty of Waitangi, and with the history of Aotearoa / New Zealand as a nation. We offer 2 experiences a day (10am and 2pm) Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.
Our Learning Experiences are developed by our own New Zealand trained teachers and link closely with the New Zealand Curriculum. All visits are carefully planned in conjunction with the visiting teachers.
- Visit to Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi or Te Rau Aroha
- Guided tour of the grounds
- Cultural Performance with pōwhiri
- Practical activities, such as learning waiata, kite making, art, craft and technology activities, traditional games and re-enacting parts of historic events.
Please Note:
All schools/youth organisations wishing to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds must be accompanied by our Education staff and so pre-booking is essential.
There is enough time for 1 museum tour only. We recommend choosing whichever museum suits your students learning/focus best.
The Education Experience is for all NZ student/youth groups Y1-13 wishing to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
We also have an International Experience for overseas students wanting to learn more about our history and culture, as well as a fun ECE programme for our youngest learners (2-5yrs)!
Please get in touch for more information about these programmes.
This is a 3hr programme which may include an educational tour through one of our museums (Te Kōngahu or Te Rau Aroha), a hīkoi though the grounds via Ngātokimatawhaorua up to the flagstaff and onto the Whare Rūnanga, practical activities and a cultural performance*. All programmes are tailored to your requirements and learning focus to ensure the ultimate learning experience for your students. You will have an opportunity to collaborate with our Educators for your lesson planning before the visit.
Due to time constraints we cannot offer a tour through both our museums. Please indicate which museum would suit your students best when making your enquiry.
*extra cost to include cultural performance
All groups are required to book their visits in advance to ensure a member of the Education Team is available to accompany them. Our programme is becoming increasingly popular and is often fully booked weeks in advance.
Please note: If you have a certain date in mind please book well ahead of time to avoid disappointment. You can make a booking enquiry by clicking on the Enquire Now button above.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 we are required to ensure the health & safety of our visitors as well as our employees. We have identified several risks on-site and it is our duty to put controls in place to mitigate these risks. One of these controls is for our educators to lead every visit. If you have your own lesson plan for the visit our educator will still need to accompany you and therefore booking is essential.
Please note: This requirement includes all organisations with under 18’s e.g youth groups, sports team etc
To comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 we require you to bring an adult to child supervision ratio of 1:7 for Y1 – 8 and 1:10 for Y9 – 13. These adults are free of charge.
The Waitangi Treaty Grounds does not currently receive operational funding from local or central government, and we rely on the admission fees of our visitors to keep up our world class visitor experience.
We currently hold a Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom (LEOTC) contract with the Ministry of Education which provides subsidised funding for state/state integrated schools only. This allows us to keep the costs as low as possible and your admission helps us continue operating our Education Programme.
Bay of Islands Education Network
The Bay of Islands Education Network is dedicated to offering extraordinary experiences to the education sector in the beautiful Bay of Islands and Northland area. As well as being one of the members the Waitangi Treaty Grounds helps to administrate the network.The Bay of Islands Education Network takes the hassle out of organising a field trip by building an itinerary specific to your class size and curriculum needs, while offering you the best price and quality experiences for your class or student group.The Network offers a variety of experiences to suit your needs from day visits to multi-day itineraries including activities, meals, transport and accommodation. For more information, check out the Bay of Islands Education Network website.
Download Resources
We recommend all teachers read this booklet prior to their visit.
Download Teacher Handbook
