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Date updated: 29/09/2023

School workshops are available on Wednesdays and Thursdays, in the morning (10.30am-12.30pm) or afternoon (1.30pm-3.30pm). The charge is £2.35 per student, with a minimum charge of £52.50.* Accompanying staff members do not pay a fee. Please contact Keats House if you would like to arrange a session.

Keats House is a Quality Badge holder for Learning Outside the Classroom, certifying that the house meets all quality indicators for both risk management and educational provision as an out-of-school educational site.

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Quality badge awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.

Our risk assessment is available to inform your own risk assessment when visiting Keats House.

Keats House Risk Assessment PDF (326KB)
Date submitted: 15/06/22

Special Needs

We aim to make the house and events as accessible as possible to all visitors. If anyone in your group has any special need or disability which might affect the visit, including educational needs, please let us know in advance so we can put any necessary arrangements in place.

School workshops at Keats House

Ask the Doctor (for Key Stages 1-2)

A look at what medicine was like 200 years ago when Keats trained as a doctor, including a virtual tour of Keats House and a drama workshop.

Children will learn information and vocabulary relating to medicine both in the past and today, and develop creativity and teamwork.

Write a Poem: ‘The Naughty Boy,’ or ‘Cats and Other Creatures’ (for Key Stages 1-2)

An introduction to one of Keats’s best-loved poems, leading to creative writing and drawing activities. Choose from: 'A Song About Myself' and 'To Mrs Reynolds’s Cat.'

Children will gain understanding of a Keats poem, and will develop their creativity and confidence in using language independently.

Everything in the Garden (for Key Stages 1-2)

An exploration of the plants and living creatures in the Keats House garden, and the part they played in the life of Keats and his friends.

Children will learn facts about plants and arthropods in the garden through hands-on activity, and practice drawing and measuring skills.

Writing Workshop (for Key Stages 3-5)

Inspired by objects from the house or writings by Keats and other poets, write and share your own poetry.

Students will gain detailed understanding of a poem, develop their creativity and start to gain confidence in sharing their own work.

The Poems of John Keats (for Key Stages 3-5)

Accessible introductions to some of Keats’s most celebrated poems, including 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci,' 'Lamia,' the Odes and the sonnets.

Students will gain a detailed understanding of the poem studied, aided by information on Keats’s life.

In-depth workshops are also available for GCSE and A level literature students on Keats's Odes and sonnets, 'Lamia,' 'The Eve of St Agnes,' and 'Hyperion.'

To book any of these sessions, of if you have any enquiries, please contact Keats House.

Workshops offered with our Partner Organisations

Young City Poets - with the National Literacy Trust (for Key Stages 2-3)

Free sessions offered to students in Key Stages 2-3 at qualifying schools, in conjunction with the National Literacy Trust.

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National Literacy Trust logo.

A tour and workshop at Keats House looking at objects that had a particular relevance to John Keats's life, as inspiration for students to write an ode of their own, with a follow-up visit by a published poet to develop the students' writing.

This session is offered in conjunction with the National Literacy Trust's Young City Poets project, which combines an initial writing session at a cultural venue in the City with support from a practising poet. To find out more about the Young City Poets project, contact Sophie Kirk at the Literacy Trust.

Culturally Speaking - with Speakers Trust (for Key Stages 3-4)

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Culturally Speaking logo.
The logo of 'Speakers Trust: Speak and Be Heard'
Speakers Trust logo.

Students will develop their communication skills through exploration of the house and learning about John Keats's life.

The session begins with a tour, which directs the students to key objects with stories to tell about Keats's experiences as a young Londoner trying to find love and success.

The follow-up discussions and exercises will enable them to practice a wide range of communication skills, and finally each participant will give a short talk of their own.

For more details, including session charges, contact Claire Chappell-Meade at Speakers Trust.

Find out more about Speakers Trust.

History and Literacy workshop - with Poetry vs Colonialism (for Key Stages 2-4)

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Poetry vs Colonialism logo.

Through objects and stories in the house, students will investigate the ways in which the lives of John Keats and his contemporaries were influenced by the colonialist trade in products such as cotton, tea and opium. Poet Laila Sumpton leads a workshop looking further into colonial histories and poetic responses to them, and the students end by writing their own poems. 

For more details, including session charges, please contact Keats House.

Find out more about Poetry vs Colonialism.

Getting ahead in the Nineteenth Century - dual site sessions with London Metropolitan Archives (for Key Stages 2-3)

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London Metropolitan Archives logo.

Two separate, connected sessions at Keats House and London Metropolitan Archives, giving a hands-on experience of what life was like for a young person in John Keats’s time.

Two hundred years ago it could be harder than it is today to leave home and make your way in the world. At London Metropolitan Archives, look at images, objects and records which graphically show what life could be like for a young person in the early 1800s. Then visit Keats House to learn how the young John Keats survived early tragedy and a gruelling apprenticeship as a surgeon to achieve his life’s ambition.

The sessions include writing activities and a filmed encounter with ‘John Keats’, recounting his story in his own words.

Students will gain an insight into life for a young person in the nineteenth century, and develop their creativity through two pieces of writing. 

For more details, including session charges, please contact Keats House.

School Visits Fund

The Culture Mile School Visits Fund may be able to support your school visit to Keats House. This fund provides grants of up to £300 towards the costs of facilitated sessions, admission, transport and/or teacher cover for eligible schools.

*Booked sessions cancelled with less than seven days' notice will incur the minimum charge of £52.50 by invoice to the school.