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: the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Delve into the history of the Royal Family behind the doors of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Lucy Dimbylow visited with her children Katie, six, and Tom, 11.
Situated at the end of the famous Royal Mile, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is the Queen's official residence in Edinburgh. It’s where she bestows honours upon her Scottish subjects and hosts her annual garden party.
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Over the centuries, the Palace has been home to many famous (and infamous) kings and queens, including Kings James II, III, IV and V, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Mary, Queen of Scots.
The visit takes in the State Apartments, Mary, Queen of Scots’ Chambers and the abbey ruins, and is a fascinating look at how the Royal Family has lived through the ages.
Best for Nursery and Reception
There’s a dedicated family room at the Palace with lots for younger children to do, including period dressing-up costumes, traditional games like quoits, and a range of books, drawing activities and worksheets.
Be aware that the family room is situated at the end of the tour. We didn’t realise this at the time, but would strongly recommend nipping in before you start to make your way around the Palace so you can pick up activity sheets to fill in as you go round.
Best for KS1 kids
Year 2 Katie felt very grown-up, working her way around the Palace with the audio tour (handheld devices with headphones) that’s included in the admission fee.
She also enjoyed filling in the activity trail, thinking about who she’d invite to a State banquet and looking for details in the Palace’s tapestries and paintings, and was fascinated to see where the Queen eats her dinner.
Best for KS2 kids
Visiting the Palace of Holyroodhouse helped to bring history to life for 11-year-old Tom, who’d heard of characters like Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie but didn’t know much about them.
He particularly like hearing about the bloodthirstiness of various battles.
The audio tour was a great way to pace our visit, making sure we stopped to take in the history and detail of each room, rather than racing towards the end, and our children definitely absorbed more information than they usually would when visiting an historic venue.
Don’t miss
The Family Garden Trail and Family Abbey Trail: these worksheets include spotters’ tasks, drawing activities, puzzles and more, and can be collected from the family room (at the end of the Palace tour, before you venture in the grounds and abbey ruins) or downloaded before your visit.
Half-term and holiday events for families
There are various seasonal events with a family-friendly flavour. Visit at Christmas to see the Palace bedecked in decorations, and take part in activities such as face-painting, story-telling and ceilidh dancing.
There are also half-term events, with attractions like writing a letter with pen and ink and sealing it with the Royal crest.
The occasional family Recitals for Wrigglers, intended for children aged four and under, are great for giving your child an early introduction to history and music.
Food and drink options
The Café at the Palace in the Mews Courtyard serves light lunches, cakes and hot and cold drinks. Food and drink are strictly prohibited in the Palace, but there are benches for picnicking in the grounds.
Getting there, prices and opening hours
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Canongate, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH8 8DX.
The Palace is a 15-minute walk from Waverley Station. Public and open-top tour buses stop nearby, and there’s a public car park next to the Palace.
Adults £12.50, under-fives free, children aged five to 17 £7.50, family tickets (two adults and three children) £32.50.
Prices are due to increase in 2018.
Pocket money purchases
The gift shop has a range of souvenirs priced £1 to £5. We liked the ornate crown pin badges, and the wide selection of children’s books including colouring books and stories based on the Palace’s history.
Online treasures if you’re too far to visit
There are great online activities to download, including Design a Cypher and Make a Miniature, plus an interactive map with fun facts for your child to discover.
Links to the National Curriculum
A visit to the Palace of Holyroodhouse ties in with the following National Curriculum topics:
- Changes within living memory
- The lives of significant individuals in the past
- Understanding of terms such as empire, civilisation and parliament
- How Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
- Understanding methods of historical enquiry
- Understanding the history of the British Isles.
