Plan Your School Visit

Education visits take place from 9am, Monday to Friday, during term time. Our programmes are between 60 and 90 minutes in length, unless stated otherwise or organised with our Gallery Educator prior to your visit.

Schools are welcome to complete a self-guided visit. These can take place after 10am, Tuesday to Friday, during term time. Please email or call our Gallery Educator at least one week prior to your visit, to ensure there isn’t another school or group already booked in the space.

Review these behavioural guidelines with your students so that they are best able to manage themselves on the outing. 'At Te Whare Toi, we all use quiet voices, walking feet and we don't touch the artworks'.

It is really important to use that our education programmes are accessible to our whole community, so all of our sessions are free of charge.

Please let the educators know in advance if you have a student that has specific learning requirements so that we can ensure their experience is more engaging. If parents, teachers or students would like a pre-visit to our galleries we are happy to show you around and create an experience that works for everyone.

All of our gallery spaces, classroom and toilets are wheelchair-accessible. There is also a parents’ room located in the women's bathroom in the foyer. There is a ramp leading to the Gallery entrance. In the event of an emergency, please follow instructions given by the Gallery Educator or staff.

School bags or backpacks can be left in Auaha, our gallery classroom. If your students are travelling to the Gallery via bus, we recommend you leave school bags on board the bus to save space in Auaha.

At the end of the day, pictures of the students interacting with the art are like gold for your post-visit work. Please feel free to snap away. Our educators will tell you if there are places that you can't take photos.

We may also take photos of you and your students during your visit. These are for use in promotional material (education brochures, for example) or on our website. If permission is not granted, please inform us before your visit.

Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga - Hastings Art Gallery staff are trained in evacuation procedures in the event of a fire or earthquake, or other emergency response.

If we need to evacuate the building during your visit, please vacate the room and head to the nearest fire exit, as instructed by Gallery staff. The evacuation meeting point is located at Ngā Pou, out the front of the gallery in Civic Square. Please await further instructions from staff.

If you hear a Civil Defence warning siren, wardens will be allocated to all areas and relay instructions as they are received. 

Click here to read our 2024 Visiting Guidelines for Schools document

Click here to read our 2024 Rick Action Management Plan for schools