Wellington Museum

Wellington’s award-winning museum gives students the chance to connect the past, present and future through stories, taonga and objects of Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui. Explore the environment, events, people and places of the capital city. We offer learning experiences for school students of all ages and our programmes support a range of curriculum areas.

Get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements and any questions you may have for your next visit. Please note that charges apply for all our education programmes. Programmes typically begin at 10am and 12.30pm daily.

Wellington Museum

Museum Highlights

All year levels.

This visit is $2 per student (adults free).

The Wellington Museum Highlights concentrates on our most interactive areas of the museum, The Attic and the Maritime Floor and includes one Audio Visual of choice. This 1-hour programme makes time for a few select top Wellington stories based on either People, Place or Action depending on your focus and is supported by an age-appropriate discovery trail.

Duration: 1 hour.

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Head of the Fish -Te Ūpoko o Te Ika

Wellington's people, places, and history

Years 1 -4.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

Our Head of the Fish/Te Ūpoko o Te Ika programme invites students to get to know their capital city and the Wellington region better: its people, places, and history. Suitable for local schools and also for those coming to Wellington for a capital city experience. This programme introduces students to place names and early migration stories around our developing harbour.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

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Small Steps and Big Changes Changemakers

Changemakers

Year 5 – 6.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

This programme invites students to gain an insight into how people make positive changes and contributions to society by hearing stories of local changemakers told through museum exhibits.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

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Treasure Island

With Wellington Museum, Department of Conservation and East By West Ferries

Year 5+.

This visit is $9.50 per student and $6.50 per adult. Includes ferry trip to Matiu Island (return).*

This programme begins with a visit to Wellington Museum where students find out about the many facets of our harbour, the beautiful, the prosperous and the hidden. They then set sail to Matiu/Somes Island by ferry and continue discovering more of the diverse roles of our harbour in the past and present.

Duration: Approx. 1 hour – 1 hour 30 minutes. Wellington Museum plus a Ferry trip and visit to Somes Island.

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*Prices until 31 Jan 2023 and are subject to change without notice.

Harbour and Hills

With Wellington Museum and Cable Car Museum

Year 3 – 8.

This visit includes visit to Wellington Museum, Cable Car Museum and Cable Car fare. Single Trip $6.00 per student and $2.50 per adult, OR Return Trip $8.00 per student and $4.50 per adult.

This programme introduces students to stories of our harbour, from its creation (Ngake and Whātaitai) to its uses over time and its special place in the center of New Zealand. The programme continues with a ride on the Cable Car, an appreciation of the view at the top and finishes with a visit to the Cable Car Museum. Students are introduced to stories around the history of the Cable Car, from the planning process to the first rides to a little girl who helped her engineer father clear the way before blasting through the rocks to construct the tunnels and many more. Students are invited to climb aboard the original Cable Car.

Duration: 1 hours 30 minutes at Wellington Museum, and Cable Car trip, and 45 minutes at the Cable Car Museum.

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Star Path

A magical exploration of navigation, journeys, and arrivals

Years 5 – 8.

This visit is $12.50 per student, including entry to both Space Place and Wellington Museum and a one-way trip on the Wellington Cable Car.

Embark on a journey of discovery, focusing on the opportunities and challenges of exploration and navigation, from the early Polynesian wayfinders to the satellite technology that we use today. In this joint venture between Space Place and Wellington Museum, students learn how to identify constellations in the southern skies and find out about the incredible navigational techniques and tools of adventurers who crossed the Pacific Ocean to settle in Aotearoa.

Duration: 1 hour 30 mins at Wellington Museum 2 hours at Space Place and Cable Car trip.

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A Place to Call Home

Tangata Whenua

Years 1-4.

Years 5 – 8.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

Years 1-4 Our Place to Call Home programme introduces students to migration stories through museum exhibits. Students learn about the journey, arrival and settlement of people over time, explore how groups of people have come to live and work together and celebrate Wellington’s diverse society.

Years 5-8 This programme invites students to explore how early Polynesian, early British and modern migrations to New Zealand have continuing significance to New Zealand’s society.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

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NCEA History

Historical Events

Year 11 – 13.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

Tailored to the requests of teachers and based on NCEA achievement standards. We look at significant events and people, such as Dame Whina Cooper, Wakefield Scheme, Wahine Disaster, the affects of protest and action.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

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Te Waka Wahine

Wahine Disaster

Year 6 – 13.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

The sinking of the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine on 10 April 1968 was New Zealand’s worst modern maritime disaster. The programme invites students to examine cause and effects as well as significance of this tragedy through artefacts, audio – visual links, stories from survivors and ethical perspectives.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

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Protest and Action: Small steps big changes

Protest and Action

Year 7 – 13.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

This programme invites students to reflect on the driving factors behind social change. Focusing on objects in Wellington Museum’s collection, such as the 1975 Hīkoi led by the late Dame Whina Cooper, and Nuclear-Free Wellington, students tackle contemporary issues such as human rights, environmentalism and the impacts of colonisation.

Durations: 1 hour 30 minutes

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Behind the Scenes in the Museum

Taonga

Year 7 – 8.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

This programme invites students to gain an insight into how objects in the museum convey stories, how the objects are sourced, why they are significant and how they are being looked after.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

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Geography 2.2

Geographic Concepts

Year 12.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

Students understand how natural and cultural environments develop and change with time, with reference to the urban pattern/s they are studying. Can link to your field work and/or research.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

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Head of the Fish -Te Ūpoko o Te Ika

Wellington's people, places, and history

Years 5-8.

This visit is $3 per student (adults free).

Our Head of the Fish/Te Ūpoko o Te Ika programme invites students to get to know their capital city and Wellington region better: its people, places, and history. Suitable for local schools and also for those coming to Wellington for a capital city experience. This programme invites students to discover the meanings behind place names, hear early Polynesian migration stories, learn about the impact of further migrations and celebrate the different contributions of many influences over time to the Wellington region.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Enquire here