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October Home Education Day

Special ticketed event
Especially for home educated children
Wednesday 1 October 2025, 10:00am - 3:00pm
Two boys being assisted by parent with experiment in Newcastle's Life Science Centre.

Home Education Days give home educated children the chance to take part in curriculum-linked workshops inspired by current STEM themes. Sessions are led in fully equipped labs or Making Studios, offering hands-on experiences that simply can’t be replicated at home.

On these days, the centre is closed to school groups but still open to the general public, so while it’s generally quieter, you may see families with pre-school children enjoying the exhibits.

Families can book a workshop and combine it with time in the science centre, or choose a centre-only visit. To make things easier for those who prefer a slower start, workshops run to a different timetable than on school days. When not in a workshop, families can explore the centre at their own pace without following a ‘school-style’ schedule.

The theme of October’s workshops is Exciting Experiments. Keep scrolling for further details… 

Terms and conditions

Enjoy a fantastic day of learning at a Home Education Day.

Ticket prices

Combined workshop and science centre visit £11.95
Under 11s must be accompanied by a parent in workshops. One adult comes free with every paying workshop attendee. If there are more adults coming along, additional tickets can be purchased for £13.50 each.
All workshops cost £11.95 per child and include a science centre visit. Sorry, but no membership discounts apply. Children not attending workshops pay normal science centre admission prices.
Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate children younger than 4 in our workshops for health and safety reasons.
Children who are participating in the 11–14-year-old workshops can attend unaccompanied, however parents/carers must stay in the centre and provide contact information so that they can be reached if necessary.
Book all five Home Education Days across the academic year for a block-booking price of £47.80 – that’s five workshops for the price of four. To secure your child’s place for the full programme, call 0191 243 8223 between Monday and Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm.

October workshops

Young school students enjoying a hands-on experiment in Life's education labs..

Amazing Materials

Recommended ages: 5-7 (minimum age 4)
Curriculum link: Working Scientifically, Everyday Materials

 

What can we modern materials be used for?

 

In this lab-based hands-on workshop, home educated children will use ‘incredible inks’ to reveal secret messages, ‘growing gels’ to see how much they expand and ‘flying fibres’ to see how far they can travel!

 

 

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On this workshop, students will conduct experiments to find the best construction materials for an Antarctic Research Station, similar to the one pictured.

Extreme Materials

Recommended ages: 7-11 (minimum age 7)
Curriculum link: Working Scientifically, Everyday Materials

 

What properties of materials would let them survive in Antarctica?

 

In this lab-based hands-on workshop, home educated children will complete a series of experiments to decide which materials would be best to build a research base in Antarctica.

 

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Laboratory Glassware And Equipment Arranged For Scientific Experimentation

Analysing Chemicals

Recommended ages: 11-13 (minimum age 11)
Curriculum link: Working Scientifically, Materials

 

Which chemicals are different compounds made from?

 

In this lab-based hands-on workshop, home educated children will learn how to carry out tests using specialist lab equipment to determine which ions are in different chemicals.

 

Please note that the wearing of safety glasses is essential in this workshop.

 

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Getting here

Life is located in Times Square, just a two minute walk from Newcastle Central train and Metro station.

Driving? Times Square Car Park is just around the corner. The sat nav reference for the car park is NE1 4AD (opposite Leonardo Hotel – formerly Jurys Inn). Look out for Centre for Life and/or Times Square Car Park signage to direct you.

Life Science Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4EP

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