School Visits

Sick to Death offers fully immersive and interactive experience to school groups of all ages. It is particularly relevant to those studying the history of medicine and related topics at the GCSE level and above.

If you are interested in booking a visit for your school, please fill out an enquiry form and our staff will be in touch: School Booking Enquiry Form

The information below provides a full overview of the standard format of a suggested school visit to Sick to Death and any details you might require to organise your visit.

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Timings

A standard school visit to Sick to Death will last approximately 45 minutes – 1.5 hours, depending on your group size. The museum opens at 10am.

Museum Visit: Self-Guided Tour

With an accompanying teacher/adult, students will undertake a self-guided journey through the museum, learning all about the history of medicine through time. The visit will be hosted by one of our staff members who will welcome you to the museum and provide an introduction. Where possible, we will also have costume characters in the museum, such as the Plague Doctor, to provide an additional memorable experience!

Students will be free to interact will all of the elements that make Sick to Death such a unique museum to visit, including UV torches, smell pots, a life-size autopsy cadaver, interactive games and quizzes, audio and video stories, and various props and models.

Due to the size and layout of Sick to Death, it is not possible to have a typical guided group tour or demonstrations for an entire class together, but our staff will circulate throughout the museum during your visit to encourage students to engage with the content on display, to help answer any questions, and where appropriate, to give smaller demonstrations.

Group Sizes

Sick to Death is located within St. Michael’s an incredible Grade II listed church on Chester’s medieval rows. The venue adds to the history and atmosphere of your visit, but it does also limit the space available.

The maximum recommended group size for a Museum Visit is 30 students. Groups larger than this should ideally be split up and visit separately, approximately 1 hour apart.

Within these groups we will then stagger student entry into the museum, based on the provision of teachers/adults available. For example, if you have a class of 30 and three teachers/adults, we suggest entering the museum as smaller groups of 10, separated by about 5-10 minutes, to avoid congestion within the museum spaces.

There is a covered area outside the museum entrance and a small amount of space within the museum shop where those students and teachers from the same group, waiting to enter, can stand, with a small amount of seating provision.

If you have any questions about your group size and scheduling your Museum Visits for large groups, please get in touch with us to discuss the logistics.

Facilities and Accessibility

Please note that we do not have facilities to store bags/coats or a space within Sick to Death for groups to eat lunch. We are happy to offer suggestions of locations in the area, within walking distance, where you can picnic with your group before or after visiting.

We have two toilets within the museum, one is a disabled toilet.

We have a gift shop in the museum, please note that it is card-only.

Sick to Death does not have level street access. Once inside, the museum is all on one-level. For ambulatory wheelchair users and visitors with assistive aids and devices, the front door is accessed via five steps from Bridge Street, and six steps with a central handrail from Pepper Street. There is a small step up through the front doors. There are three steps with a handrail to the rear of the venue.

There are some audio/visual elements in Sick to Death. In these locations we have provided either printed audio transcripts and/or subtitles. The first room you enter after the front desk includes flashing lights as part of the introduction, however you may pass through this room without viewing it.

Sick to Death offers students an immersive experience and to do this, we try to engage all of the senses during your visit. Students will experience areas with dim lighting, light and sound effects, and while opportunities to smell disgusting smells are optional through the use of smell-pots, these scents can permeate the air in certain areas.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility for any of your students, or what adjustments can be made for your school visit, please feel free to speak to us ahead of time. 

Getting to Sick to Death

Coach parking is available at Little Roodee car park which is a short 5-10 minute walk away. Please note this is a ticketed car park and parking must be paid for upon return to the coach.

There is a coach drop-off/pick-up space on Pepper Street, just a few metres from Sick to Death’s entrance. The amount of time a coach is able to remain parked and waiting here is limited. Please speak to your coach provider.

We suggest arriving no earlier than 10 minutes before your assigned start time. This is to ensure there is no congestion and things run smoothly for everyone. 

Health and Safety

We recommend that teachers carry out a preliminary visit to Sick to Death in order to conduct their own Risk Assessment and familiarise themselves with the museum. We can provide teachers with entry into Sick to Death during our regular opening hours – please arrange this with us is advance.

We have also prepared our own guidance for school visits, which you may want to review before conducting your Risk Assessment: Sick to Death Risk Identification Information for Schools

If you are unable to visit ahead of time, you may find our Story Guide below useful, in order to view photos of the inside of the museum.

Museum Content and Additional Resources

There is an enormous amount of information in Sick to Death and whether your school is studying

you will find many of the topics covered in your units throughout the museum.

Some schools choose to bring worksheets for their students to complete during their visits. These are typically based on the museum content that relates their particular unit of study and where they are currently in that unit. Some examples of a worksheets can be seen here: GCSE Student Pack / Plague Worksheet / Kids’ Worksheet

In addition to visiting our museum, Sick to Death also has a podcast, which is available to listen to online. It features ten episodes that are linked to topics covered in the museum. You can read more about it and find links to the episodes here: The Sick to Death Podcast: A History of Medicine in 10 Objects

Photo Tour and Topic Guide

For a full visual story guide to the museum, including photos and details on the content covered, please visit our ‘Story Guide’ page here: Sick to Death Museum Story Guide

It is our aim that this Story Guide will help you to prepare for your visit ahead of time and identify which sections of the museum you may want to highlight to your students, depending on what topics you are currently learning or revising in the classroom.

A Note on Mature Content

Within Sick to Death we have a dedicated section to the history of medicine as it relates to Sexual Health. This section is signed as Mature Content and is located within a separate walled area, with its own entrance, though you will be able see into it when the door is open. The medical history of Sexual Health is an important topic and while the content within this area is in-keeping with the rest of Sick to Death, please note that there are depictions of genitalia and anatomical models of sexually transmitted infections on display, should you choose to let your students enter this section of the museum.

There are also two cabinets in the last room of the museum on the ‘Quack Wall’, which also make brief mentions of topics that could be considered mature content.

If you have any concerns or questions about managing or limiting your students’ access to these areas/cabinets during your visit, please get in touch with us ahead of your visit.

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Booking Details

The cost of a school visit to Sick to to Death is £4.50 for students. Accompanying teachers and adults are not charged a fee. School groups should adhere to their school staff:child ratios.  Minimum ratios are:             

BACS/Invoice payments must be made at least 1 month before your arrival – the relevant date will be displayed on your invoice issued at confirmation of your booking. Please note, any cheques should be made payable to Big Heritage CIC. Payments by credit/debit card are also possible.

If you are interested in booking a visit for your school, please fill out an enquiry form and our staff will be in touch: School Booking Enquiry Form