Shepton Mallet Prison Education Behind Bars

Our Education Behind Bars Programme is designed by educationalists, aligned with the national curriculum, tailored to your students’ Key Stage and can be adapted according to your needs; along with a wide range of activities that can be included in your visit such as our popular Escape Rooms. Our perceptive ‘In-Cell Experience,’ included on the Guided Tour allows your students to experience the realities of life behind bars.

Each student will receive an Education Behind Bars pack containing;

• Educational Activity
• Activity Booklet
• Site Map
• Certificate of Completion

Your students will be given time to complete a Self-Guided Discovery allowing them to explore in small groups, completing their Activity Booklets.

Shepton Mallet Prison was built in 1625 and closed in 2013, with over 400 years of history to uncover. This iconic heritage site is a unique location for educational visits, and one that not many people get the opportunity to discover.

Many of our current educational visits come to discover more about crime and punishment through the ages, Jacobean history, capital punishment, law, rehabilitation, and the effects of crime on the victims and families. As the prison dates back to 1625 it is also frequently visited by students of Architecture, Citizenship, Media Studies, RE and Geography.

Our Education Behind Bars Programme is designed by educationalists, aligned with the national curriculum, tailored to your students’ Key Stage and can be adapted according to your needs; along with a wide range of activities that can be included in your visit such as our popular Escape Rooms. Our perceptive ‘In-Cell Experience,’ included on the Guided Tour allows your students to experience the realities of life behind bars.

Your visit will include the prison wings, constant watch cells, segregation unit, healthcare, exercise yards and the execution room, including the cell where the condemned prisoner spent his last night (this can be excluded from the tour if preferred).

The tour will be adapted to each school year, curriculum and what you as a teacher want to achieve. As well as being educational, some educational organisations will use the experience as a preventative tool – bringing home the harsh reality of prison life.

As a starting point for all students, we offer a Guided Tour of the prison, enhanced by the In-Cell Experience. The tour is led by a Prison Officer with a wealth of knowledge and stories to tell. Your visit will include the prison wings, constant watch cells, segregation unit, healthcare, exercise yards and the execution room, including the cell where the condemned prisoner spent his last night (this can be excluded from the tour if preferred).

Students will learn what it was like to be incarcerated from the Jacobean era to the modern day and there will be plenty of opportunities for questions and engagement between the students and Prison Officers.

All Education Behind Bars visits will include:

• Guided Tour led by a Prison Officer
• In-Cell Experience
• Education Activity (aligned with national curriculum)
• Self-Guided Discovery Activity
• Education Behind Bars Pack for each student
• Private Education Room

Add on activities can be included, with a wide range to choose from and each visit can be tailored to your exact requirements.

From 8 to 250.

Our specially designed programme of Educational Activities are delivered in our bespoke education rooms. Led by a trained facilitator, activities are group led discussions capturing the students’ curiosity and triggering their imagination.

Each Education Activity has been designed alongside the national curriculum. By the end of the programme students will be able to;

Key Stage 2, PRU & SEN groups:

• Describe the main causes of crime in Victorian England
• Describe the different types of punishment and how prisons came to be built
• Describe how it would have felt to be a prisoner in the 19^th century

Key Stage 3 & 4:

• Understand the meaning of keywords such as deterrent and rehabilitation
• Understand how the nature of crimes and associated punishments have changed over the centuries
• Debate the pros and cons of The Death Penalty (capital punishment)

Key Stage 5 & Universities:

• Debate how the media can influence how people and society think about crime and punishment
• Understand the role the media plays in public perception about certain types of crime and the impact of public perception on punishment, reform, and rehabilitation
• Consider how the media can misrepresent the nature of crime.

Outcomes and focuses can be tailored to your students’ needs.

Our Self-Guided Discovery is supported by your Tour Guides, students will explore Shepton Mallet Prison in small groups. Completing Activity Booklets, which have been designed to engage and educate students in an immersive and informal manner.

Each student will be provided with an Activity Booklet to complete, and your Tour Guide will be on hand to support students in their journey behind bars.

Once complete students will reconvene to compare their answers, before being awarded their Certificate of Completion.

Each student will receive an Education Behind Bars pack containing;

• Educational Activity
• Activity Booklet
• Site Map
• Certificate of Completion

No Restrictions.

Yes, we can provide a risk assessment.

Izzy Pritchard

E: epritchard@covegroup.co.uk

C: 01743 211252

Our Education Behind Bars Programme starting prices per student:

• Key Stage 2: £13.00
• Key Stage 3: £14.00
• Key Stage 4: £15.00
• Key Stage 5: £16.00
• University: £17.00

If you like to add our Escape Rooms as additional, please get in touch with our Education Officer who will be happy to advise and arrange your exact requirements.

The prison is cold without heating so warm clothing is recommended along with flat shoes due to the number of stairs between the landings.

We have specialist first aid trained staff on site at all times and a dedicated first aid room to administer first aid.

• On site gift shop with merchandise starting from £1.00.
• A restaurant
• Changing rooms
• Dedicated education spaces for your group
• Plenty of room to eat a packed lunch or we can provide lunch bags for your group

We regret we can’t offer disabled access to the upper floors due to the age of the building. However, the ground floor is completely accessible for wheelchairs, and we have a disabled toilet.

We are open between 10am & 5pm, 7 days a week, but can open earlier by prior arrangement.

“We took over 60 Psychology students to Shepton Mallet Prison. Students took part in a tour of the prison, and 2 activities appropriately titled ‘Cell Escape’ and ‘The Prisoner Experience.’ This experience will be invaluable, as students will be looking at Criminal Psychology topic in Year 11. 

 Their highly qualified guides raised students’ curiosity to know more about the past and to think critically about the punishment from the Jacobean era to the modern-day.Both guides commented on how lovely and attentive our students were! Thanks again and would definitely go again!”

Wayne Davies, Head of Psychology, Heathfield Community School 

“The students thought it was brilliant! They found it absolutely fascinating, and I am really grateful for having had the talk and tour from Maurice. Maurice was excellent and his stories and the case studies he described were very interesting. It sparked some really good conversations back at school and gave the students some real insight into the punishment and the prison system.”

Educator from Talbot Heath

Schools and Universities return year after year and report very high levels of engagement amongst their students.

For more information, please visit our website: https://www.sheptonmalletprison.com/education-behind-bars