Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust is delighted to announce that the learning provision at The
Historic Dockyard Chatham has received the esteemed Sandford Award for high
achievement in heritage education. This award reflects the excellence of the sessions
delivered by the team, which includes work with schools, colleges and universities as well as
families, community and special interest groups.

The Sandford Award has been running since 1978 and is the only nationally recognised
quality mark for heritage learning, providing independent assurance for heritage sites and
services.

In the sessions observed by the assessor, the quality of teaching was deemed extremely
high, the content and quality of the sessions were praised, and use of the historic
environment to enhance the learning provision was considered excellent.

The lead judge said: “The Historic Dockyard Chatham Learning Team deliver an exciting and
inspiring programme. They provide hands-on experiences for students that cannot be
delivered in the classroom and workshops are led by highly skilled and knowledgeable
facilitators. All of the sessions have clear curriculum links and learning objectives, and
schools will experience engaging activities that enhance their students’ learning. The service
has continued to maintain extremely high standards since the Award was last granted in
2018. It offers an outstanding learning programme and a truly memorable experience for
those who visit.”

Stephen Billington, Head of Lifelong Learning, said: “Education is central to delivering
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust’s charitable purpose and engaging audiences in learning
about the significance and role of the former Royal Dockyard is at the heart of everything we
do. Receiving the Sandford Award is a huge honour and we could not be happier. Our team
are passionate about sharing over 400 years of dockyard history and creating an inclusive
environment for young people to learn. We offer a varied programme of activity throughout
the year and this prestigious award gives testament to the quality of the experience. We
hope to see many more young people through our doors in the coming years.”

For more information about visiting The Historic Dockyard Chatham see: the dockyard.co.uk

ENDS