The effective teaching of astronomy involves viewing the night sky,
but to take students "star-gazing" is often impractical.
Fully experience the dynamics of the heavens sitting inside our
11-metre dome. This makes clear many of the basic aspects of astronomy
and space science in an exciting and easy to learn way.
We provide the excitement and wonder of a 'Big Sky Dome' to about
10,000 children per year.
Teacher Evaluation Reports
Elson Junior School Gosport
The children absolutely loved their visit. It is related to our work
this half term and has set the children up for 'Tim Peake' next half
term. Thank you.
West Chiltington Primary School
Spot on - really liked the ISS footage in the Planetarium. The
children really enjoyed it. Thank you for the teas and coffees too!
Morelands Primary School
Content pitched really well for year 5 group. Really good to include
content from recent events. There is a lot of information to take in.
Children definitely benefit from learning things before visiting to
help them take everything in
Walberton and Binsted CofE Primary School
A great presentations as always. Really fascinating and relevant to
our topic. It is great the way the presentation changes a little
year-on-year. It is great to include information on Tim Peake and the
ISS. It is also very good to have a Q and A afterwards
West Park Primary School
The children enjoyed having the opportunity to ask questions. Very
friendly organised staff to help. A credit to the Planetarium
Broadwater CofE Primary School
A very enjoyable talk relevant to us:- Nice to see you change it with
up-to-date information too.
An Exciting and Inspiring Place to Visit!
The South Downs Planetarium and Science center was established to
provide a facility where people of all ages can learn about science in
a very visual and exciting way.
demonstrations
Children Handling meteorites.
There's something very special about giving a child a piece of
meteorite, which was a space rock, and to tell them that this is
probably going to be the oldest rock or object they will ever hold in
their hands"
Graham Bryant
We provide a wide range of presentations for schoolchildren which both
complements and supplements their National Curriculum work and meets
the basic educational needs of a range of ages and abilities.
These Presentations supplement school studies for:
National Curriculum Key Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4,
GCSE Astronomy,
General Studies, including Environmental Science, and Physics at
GCSE, AS and A2 level.
Since opening in July 2001, the Planetarium has hosted visits by
around
10,000 children of school age every year. Through its
colourful displays, demonstrations and presentations in the main
auditorium, young people are introduced to the awe and wonder of the
universe around us and are inspired to want to learn more.
The Planetarium is an educational charity managed and operated by a
large team of volunteers and enthusiasts, who have a passion for
science and education and believe that learning should be fun! This
enthusiasm is clearly infectious because many of our school groups and
individual visitors come back to us time and time again.
Tailor-made presentations
These presentations meet the specific needs of university
undergraduates, individual colleges and schools, including those from
overseas as well as various adult and youth groups.
Specific Requirements.
Presentations can also be made to suit specific requirements. For
example, for older students, topics such as life on other planets, the
birth, life and death of stars, galaxies, the Big Bang and the expanding
universe may be covered. Each presentation, given by an experienced
lecturer, is of about 50 minutes' duration, followed by a question and
answer session.
Seating
Normally you will have the Planetarium to yourself – always if you have
paid for exclusive use. For the smaller school groups, if you do not
require exclusive use, it may be feasible to combine with another group
to reduce the cost per group, but we will always try to match age and
ability. Do contact the Planetarium if you would like to explore this
option further.
Lunches
Schools coming from some distance can bring a snack or packed lunch to
eat during their visit, but please arrange and agree this with the
Planetarium in advance.
Bus and Coach Hire
In addition, if your school is near to a bus route or railway station
did you know that operators are willing and often able to make special
arrangements to meet your needs? This might include running an
additional vehicle on a scheduled bus route at a time agreed by prior
arrangement. Such options may well be cheaper than coach hire.
The following are the relevant contact details for the companies who
will be pleased to discuss your specific requirements for group
booKingson scheduled services. Please be sure to allow at least one
month's notice ahead of your travel date.
An extensive Astronomical Library. A Laboratory/Workshop and an
Information Technology center.
The ‘Richard Bunker Lecture and Video Theatre’ and ‘Science center’
The hall provides seating for over 60 people. As well as providing a
secure and comfortable location for visitors to leave coats and bags and
to eat lunch. It also include: Viewspace an internet-connected computer
and large-format HD TV display to show the latest images, movies,
animations and news from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA spacecraft
observatories.
Planning your School Visit
School visits can be booked with confidence.
South Downs Planetarium complies with all the regulations and guidelines
regarding 'Learning Outside the Classroom' and the New Government
Guidance on Health and Safety on educational visits.
Most school visits last between two and three hours. A typical visit
will include a show in the main auditorium followed by questions
afterwards, plus a number of additional activities, which will be
tailored to the requirements of the individual school, and the total
time available for the visit. All shows have a live presenter, enabling
plenty of interaction with the children.
Our "Solar Trail ", runs along the 200 yards of approach road leading
from the school roundabout in front of the Sixth Form center down to the
Planetarium.
The Solar Trail provides much needed lighting along the approach road
utilising 'full cut-off design' ensuring that there is minimal light
pollution.
Displayed on the lamp-posts at regular intervals are interesting facts
about each of the planets in the Solar System.
From the new Sports center, (named after Major Tim Peake, British
astronaut), the trail starts with the dwarf planet Pluto and then in
sequence points representing Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,
Earth, Venus, Mercury and, finally, the Sun.
The Solar Trail has been made possible through the generosity of the
following
Seagull Trust,
Urbis Lighting Ltd,
Brian Fieldhouse,
Henry Adams and Partners, with technical advice and assistance from
Gerry Davis.
The Science center.
The Science center provides a highly adaptable multi-purpose space for
use by visiting school groups and as a location for additional exhibits
and hands-on activities during courses for adults and children.
A center for associated sciences
Its role is in exploring and educating not just Astronomy and
Astrophysics but also other 'Earth Sciences' such as Geophysics
Geomorphology and Meteorology.
How to Book
The easiest way to book your Planetarium visit is to email the Planetarium with a brief summary of your
requirements. This should include the name of your school or college, number of students attending, age or year
group and when you would ideally like to visit, mentioning any days or dates that you would prefer or ones you
definitely cannot do. This is the best way to contact us, but first please read the notes below and PLEASE do
provide us with a contact telephone number and the best time to call.
Please do try to book your visit early and note that the Planetarium is particularly busy between September and
April. We look forward to meeting you and your school group during the coming academic year.
Health & Safety
Routine visits These involve no more than an everyday level of risk,
such as for slips and trips, and are covered by a school’s current
policies and procedures. They only need a little extra planning beyond
the educational aspect of the trip and can be considered as a lesson in
a different classroom.
Health and safety on educational visits
UK School Trips
Costs for Schools
As of January 2026, the cost of a typical Planetarium visit is £6.00 per child, teachers and adult helpers free
of charge, but West Sussex LEA schools enjoy a discount of 50p per child on the normal admission price. There is
a minimum hire charge of
£200 per school group, reduced to £180 for West Sussex LEA schools. This means that if you bring 33 pupils or
fewer (32 or fewer for West Sussex schools) then the minimum hire charge applies.
Specialist presentations, including those for GCSE or A-level students and university undergraduates may incur
a slightly higher per capita charge.
We recognise that school visits must always be cost effective, especially so in the current economic climate,
and need careful planning to achieve this.
It may be that it is cheaper to use minibuses or parents' cars rather
than to hire a large coach. Also, schools should consider the use of
public transport, if possible. The Planetarium is only a short walk
from rail and bus stations and many schools have found that bringing a group by train or bus can yield very
considerable savings over the cost of hiring a coach, for example.
