WELCOME to the Educational Visits page

As a Registered Educational Charity, The Kent and East Sussex Railway is a stimulating and worthwhile venue for an educational visit.

Our projects are supported by and have been developed in conjunction with South-East Grid for Learning and Kent County Council.

The railway has been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge in June 2010. Read more about this award and our pledges.

The Railway is also delighted to have become a Member of the Children's University in July 2011 to expand its commitment to learning outside the classroom.

Many children have never had the opportunity to travel by train, and one of the purposes of such a visit would be to enable children to know at first-hand the unique historical experience of travelling on a steam train.

Linking closely with the requirements of the History National Curriculum, we offer an Evacuation Experience each May. This is a large event, 1886 children were “evacuated” last year, and that means that we can offer a huge range of curriculum related activities and keep the costs at an economic level for schools.

The railway also offers A Victorian Experience Day which again links with the History National Curriculum.

The K&ESR offers rail journey packages for schools, at special rates for school parties.

We encourage teachers to use such visits as a part of their delivery of Geography and History at key stages 1 and 2 . History (Year 3) Unit 6: Investigating our local area Section 5: What changes have taken place in the area? There are also natural links to the Victorian Era, hence History at years 3,4,5 or 6 is also supported by such visits. Unit 12 No. 3, "How did the arrival and expansion of the railways affect our area?" , No. 4 "What evidence of Victorian times remains in our area" and No. 5 how did life change in our locality in Victorian times?

The learning outcomes include using fieldwork techniques, as well as using the primary and secondary sources at stations and in the Colonel Stephens Museum.

We can supply extra dimensions to these experiences at an affordable additional cost, one school specifically asked us to book a Punch and Judy show where the operator could explain the Victorian history of such entertainments to the children. We also have two qualified and CRB checked teachers who know the railway and its history extremely well. If a school or groups of schools bring 3 classes of 25 children or more it costs just £2 per child to have one of them working with your children for the day. We always offer special rates to educational establishments, please contact us on 01580 795155 or by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  for information and to obtain a quote for your school using the K&ESR as a learning environment.