Secondary Programmes


We are taking bookings for Wellington Museum, Space Place, Nairn Street Cottage and the Cable Car Museum.

We take the health and welfare of our visitors and teams very seriously – our latest Covid-19 update can be found here. We will provide updates as new information comes to hand. 

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.

Museum Highlights

Wellington Museum

Museum Highlights

Can be adapted to suit all year levels. 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.

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

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Place to Call Home

Events that shaped today's Wellington

This programme invites students to critically examine relevant exhibits and link them to historical, social, geographical and economical factors that shape today’s Wellington.

Key words: Te tiriti o Waitangi, colonization, human rights, contested history, social justice, leadership, Wakefield Scheme, Whina Cooper, hīkoi, ahi kā, musket wars

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

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Streams and stormwater

Streams and Stormwater

Urbanisation

This programme gives students the opportunity to discover and locate hidden streams of Wellington and use museum exhibits to critically examine the continuing impact of urbanisation on local communities. The programme includes an outdoor component. Field work includes visiting Kumutoto Stream and Wellington Harbour.

Key words: Wellington Harbour, kaitiakitanga, guardianship, hiddenstreams, tangatawhenua, kai moana, long fin eels, urbanisation, urban design, permeable and impermeable surfaces, kumutoto stream, land reclamation, future cities.

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

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Wahine Disaster

Te Waka Wahine

Wahine Diaster

Years 6 – 13

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 the significance of this tragedy through artefacts, audio – visual links, stories from survivors and ethical perspectives.

Key words: Wahine disaster, cause and effect, cyclone Giselle, CookStrait, lifejacket, rugged coasts, survivor stories, maritime history

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

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Small steps big changes

Protest and Action

Years 7 – 13

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.

Key words: changemakers, protestandaction, significantevents, socialjustice, humanrights, battle of Molesworth Street, inner city bypass, nuclear free Wellington, 1975hīkoi/landmarch, 1913 strikes, homosexual law reform

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

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Behind the Scenes in the Museum

Behind the Scenes in the Museum

Taonga

Years 9 – 13

From selecting objects and stories to curating an exhibition, students are invited to examine bias, perspectives, contested histories and the role of the 21st-century museum. Students will have the opportunity to meet with specialist staff either from the curatorial or exhibitions team. A visit the collection store stacks can be organised on request. Programme must be booked well in advance if a visit to the collection store is to be included.

Key words: tourism, design, future career, contested histories, exhibitions, curation, resources, archiving, research, perspectives

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

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Wellington geography

Geography 2.2

Geographic Concepts

Years 12

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

Key words: population, urban patterns, geographic concepts, natural and cultural environments, perspectives, interaction, sustainability.

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Cable Car Museum

NCEA History

Historical Events

Years 11 – 13

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

Key words: historical events and places significant to New Zealand.

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Nairn Street Cottage

Nairn Street Cottage

Home of the Wallis family

This programme invites students into the home of the Wallis family, the oldest remaining home of its kind in Wellington. Students will hear the family’s arrival story and are able to participate in a guided visit of the cottage. As students move through the cottage they travel through different eras represented by artefacts from three generations who have lived in the home over time. Students are invited to appreciate and understand how social and technological changes affect people.

Years 9 – 13

Students are invited to critically examine socio-economic factors that affect society. Conversations around topics such as education, gender divide, technology, colonisation, wage gap, birth control are encouraged.

This visit is ​$4​ per student (adults ​free).

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Explore the solar system

Explore the Solar System

Tour the Solar System

Years 5–10+ (Levels 2–5+)

You’ll begin with the Earth, Sun and Moon, before setting off to explore the planets of the Solar System and the relationships between them all. The planetarium show Dynamic Earth and We Are Astronomers works well with this programme.

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Solar System and Beyond

Solar System and Beyond

Fly through our Solar System

Years 5–10+ (Levels 2–5+)

Fly through our Solar System, find out what galaxies are and see the Hubble Deep Sky Field during this special interactive tour number limitations apply). This is an interactive tour, with video snippets and gallery challenges. It’s a perfect introduction to Space and for students on School Camps to Wellington.

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Telescope Tour

Telescope Tour 

Discover our collections of Telescopes

Years 7–10+ (Levels 4–5+)

Discover the collection of telescopes at Space Place; learn about how different types of telescopes work and construct a working telescope!

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Extremophiles

Extremophiles

Wonderful world of Astrobiology

Years 7–10+ (Levels 4–5+)

Explore and understand the weird and wonderful world of extremophiles. Find out what they are, where they could live and why they are so important. The planetarium show We Are Aliens works well with this programme.

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Asteroids in the Solar System

Hunting for Asteroids

Asteroids in the Solar System

Years 8–10+ (Levels 4–5+)

Students use customised astronomical software and real telescope data to hunt for asteroids in the Solar System (number limitations apply).

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Astronomical Cycles and Timescales

Astronomical Cycles and Timescales

Astronomical timekeeping and calendars

Years 7–10+ (Levels 4–5+)

Explore astronomical timekeeping and calendars from many different cultures around the world. Take a look at Te Maramataka and other lunar and solar calendars, how they are used and the stories hidden in the stars.

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Roving Robots

Roving Robots

Programming Edison robots

Years 7 + (Levels 4 – 5+)

Space Place is proud to announce its new education programme Roving Robots made possible by funding from the Pelorus Trust. In this programme students will learn how to programme Edison robots using Edware software in order to complete a number of different challenges. The planetarium shows Back to the Moon for Good and We Are Aliens work well with this programme.

Please notewe accept a maximum of 25  students for this session, this programme requires an hour long workshop and will not include gallery exploration time like all other Space Place workshops.

  • $7.50 per student
  • $7.50 per adult helper
  • One teacher or adult helper per ten students is free
  • Teacher aides are free

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Collaborations with our other sites


We offer collaborative education programmes between Cable Car Museum, Space Place and Wellington Museum. These are ​full-day programmes. More information on timings on enquiry with the education team.

Maritime

Treasure Island

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

Year 5 and up

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.

This visit is ​$16 ​per student and ​$13​ per adult. Includes ferry trip to Matiu Island (return).

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Option to book a guided tour with a DOC forest ranger on Matiu/Somes Island for an additional charge of ​$2​. Must be arranged with DOC.

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