Workshops

Local History Study at Key Stage 1

Significant people, places and events in Newmarket

Curriculum links:

• the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.
• significant historical events, people and places in their own locality

This session can be used as an extension to the Great Fire of London topic.

Newmarket can hardly be described as a “One horse town!” Explore Palace House, meet our costumed character and find out about the three Stuart Kings who really put Newmarket on the map with a focus on Charles II and how he influenced the development of Newmarket and what is left here at the site of his former Palace and the first racing stables. Take a look through England’s oldest-surviving counter-weighted sash window and imagine what the King could see, hear and even smell! Students will learn and perform a song from the time of Charles II in the surviving part of his palace. Students will meet a horse in the Rothschild Yard.

This workshop has a strong focus on using a variety of sources for information and students will also take part in an object handling workshop in Trainer’s House – unlocking the stories which objects can hold – and learn about Time Team’s archaeological dig at the Palace and will search the galleries for objects which relate to historic road names in Newmarket.

Science at Key Stage 1

Magnificent Mammals

This session supports the Animals including Humans programme of learning at Key Stage 1 with the following Curriculum links:

• identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
• identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
• describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals including pets)

• identify and name the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense

Confirm the words we use to describe different kinds of animals with a round of quick fire questions on mammals. Meet the horses – we have miniature Shetland ponies Kizzy and Harry and our resident retired racehorses waiting to meet your class. Find out about horses biology and explore what horses eat. Horse v Human – explore the gallery and look at the similarities and differences in the anatomy of humans and horses. Make and create a fabulous foal and adult horse collage to take home.

Science at Key Stage 2

Digestion

Curriculum Links:

Animals including humans

• find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)
• describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans

Living things and their habitats

• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
• describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food

Animals including humans

• describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans

Students will meet a member of the Yard team. They will be introduced to the horse(s) and find out how we look after them, how and what horses are fed and how they digest food. Extension – visit to the RoR galleries to explore the differences in diet between racehorses and horses who compete in other equestrian sports.

The Horse v Human session introduces students to the Science Gallery. They will have time to explore  the displays before completing a worksheet task.

In our final workshop, students will complete our quiz and work as a team putting together and labelling our cuddly digestion system against the clock!

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

Curriculum links:

Animals including humans; working scientifically; recognising pattern and sequence

Straight From The Horse’s Mouth is a series of hands-on comparative anatomy workshops investigating similarities and differences between human and equine athletes!

Get to the bare bones with our skeleton and x-rays; ponder the heart of the matter and the circulatory system; chew it over as you examine teeth and piece together our famous life-size cuddly equine digestive system; get “organ-ised” with your scrubs and forceps in our medical role play!

Evolution and Inheritance

Curriculum Links:

• recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago
• recognise that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents
• identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution

Hands on activities and investigations will help students to explore adaptation, evolution and variations between parents and offspring. We think you will particularly enjoy the Hungry Horse Adaptation Game, when teams compete to find out which “teeth” will be best for surviving on the available food …and we’re sure you will love playing our Spot The Difference with a difference in the company of our Equine stars in the Rothschild Yard!

This session can be adapted for upper Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.

If you are interested in working with us to develop one of our workshops especially for your school or Academy group, please contact Sarah by email or call 01638 667314 to discuss. Thank you.

Awards for Young Writers on Horseracing 2025

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the third year of the Awards for Young Writers on Horseracing. The awards are open to young people aged 15 and under to 23 in the UK, for entries on horseracing subjects.

Thanks to the Wilmington Trust, our sponsors, there are two categories with generous prizes for winning entries:

• 16-23 years £1000  – up to 1200 words
• 15 years and under £500 –  up to 700 words
• The closing date for entries is midnight on 19th January 2026.

Find Out More Here