Important update from TheSchoolRun
For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.
What this means for subscribers:
- Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
- In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
- As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.
A few changes to be aware of:
- The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
- The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.
*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.
Museums reviewed by parents: Kew Gardens
Kew is a national treasure that must be seen, and every visit will be different if you're lucky enough to come more than once, from the golden leaves of autumn and the mass bluebells of spring to the glorious cottage gardens of summer. Elisabeth and Brad Galvin visited with Mary, 5, and William, 3.
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With the largest and most diverse collection of living plants in the world, Kew Gardens is a vital centre for botanical research as well as a beautiful place to stretch legs little and long.
There is a ‘tree library’ of more than 14,000 types and you can enjoy a whole gamut of gardens, from the Grass Garden to the Japanese Garden complete with pagoda.
Even those with not a single green finger can’t fail to be impressed by the magnificent Great Broad Walk Borders – take a deep breath and get a lungful of all that healthy oxygen!
You can even explore England’s smallest royal palace, Kew Palace.
Best for nursery and Reception kids
The giant badger sett is a wonderland for little imaginations. William absolutely loved tunneling through the underground maze and discovering the burrow that is (just) big enough for adults to crawl through.
Best for KS1 kids
The Log Trail is great fun, and came about after so many trees fell down after the great storm of 1987. A series of logs have been placed next to each other to make a trail through the trees and it will test your hopping and balancing skills as well as the kids’! See if you can identify the trunks, including ash, beech and eucalyptus.
Best for KS2 kids
The 200m-long Treetop Walkway is a sight for urban eyes. Walking 18m above the ground gives a completely different perspective on the Gardens (and London itself – you can see across the west on a clear day). We saw and heard green parakeets flying through the trees – noisy!
Don't miss!
The Palm House is surely the warmest place in London, and is an enormous hothouse that was the largest of its kind when it was built in 1844. It remains the most important surviving Victorian glass and iron sculpture in the world. It is bursting with tropical plants such as the cocoa tree from Central America that was discovered 2,000 years ago and a banana tree from Australia. Some species here are endangered and even extinct. The best bit is climbing the white wrought iron staircase to the viewing walk from the roof.
Half term and holiday events
There is always something on for the kids at Kew – from nature trails, crafts, storytelling and Easter egg hunts to appearances by special visitors (the Moomins have been spotted!). The Gardens are extremely family-focused with baby-changing facilities near all main areas, cafes and the gates. There’s a buggy-friendly walking map to download online.
Food and drink options
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better picnic spot with acres of grass and shady trees. If you’d prefer to buy your own, then White Peaks café has gorgeous soups, wholesome sandwiches and amazing cakes plus healthy and imaginative kiddies lunchboxes, an ice-cream parlour, bottle-warming facilities and a place to fill drinks bottles.
Getting there, prices and opening hours
The closest underground is Kew Gardens station, which is 500m from Victoria Gate. By train from Waterloo via Vauxhall and Clapham Junction, Kew Bridge station is 800m from Elizabeth Gate over Kew Bridge. The number 65 bus stops right outside.
Prices: Children under 4 are free. Off-peak (winter months): Child 4-16: £2.50 online and £3.50 at the gate, Adults: £11.50 online and £12.50 at the gate. Concessions: £10 online and £11 at the gate. From 1 February to 31 October: Child 4-16: £4 online and £5 at the gate, Adults: £16 online and £17 at the gate. Concessions: £14 online and £15 at the gate.
Opening hours: daily 10am-345pm (until 9 February) and 545pm (until 24 March). See website for summer opening hours.
Pocket-money shop purchases
The White Peaks Gift Shop is a real treasure trove for beautiful nature books and out-of-the-ordinary gifts (perfect for stocking up on birthday presents). William, 3, hasn’t stopped playing with his Bug Hunter Kit, with its Dorling Kindersley book about insects and bug-catching device that looks like a pair of scissors with a ball attached (£8.99).
Online treasures if you're too far to visit
The database of plants, fungi and seeds is extraordinarily comprehensive – if they can’t find the answer to their conservation homework here, they can’t be looking hard enough!
Links to the National Curriculum
A visit offers inspiration and hands-on learning for children studying:
- Identifying plants and animals (KS1)
- Living things and their habitats (KS2)
Photography: © Kew Gardens
Museum reviews for parents: we need YOUR help!
TheSchoolRun is looking for families to visit museums and other educational venues around the country and 'review' them. Get in touch to have your say about the best family days out (with a learning twist!).
