Plan your school visit
We offer pupils a tailored experience to support learning on Judaism, immigration and the Holocaust era. We hope that visiting will helping pupils to understand Scotland’s Jewish heritage and demonstrate its place in the wider Scottish history and culture.
We welcome primary and secondary pupils from all backgrounds, and visits cost £50 per class. Some options have restrictions on numbers due to space constraints – these details are included in the downloadable school menu, or please contact us if you have any questions about class size or what the best options would be for your pupils.
Travel subsidies are available to help support a visit – see below for information. If you are planning to travel by coach, please note that we are located within Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone.
Non-school groups are also very welcome to visit the Synagogue, please contact the Heritage Centre by email or phone to discuss what we can offer.
To help you plan a school visit, we offer a number of options, which can be combined. Download the full menu below:
School Visit Options
1. Synagogue Tour
A guided visit around the oldest purpose-built synagogue in Scotland, opened in 1879 and still used as a place of worship.
Students will learn about the features of the building, view a Torah scroll and have the opportunity to try on a prayer shawl and head covering.
Time: Flexible from around 1 hour upwards.
Level: All ages
2. Kashrut- Jewish Dietary Laws
Visit the Synagogue kitchen and see how it is designed to meet kosher rules. Explore the Jewish dietary laws set out in the Torah that still underpin the Jewish way of life for many.
Time: 20-30 minutes.
Level: All ages – we have activities available for primary and secondary levels
3. Immigration –
Making a life in the Gorbals
Exploring where Scotland’s Jews came from, their reasons for migration and the immigrant experience. Pupils will visit the synagogue then work in small groups through a Learning Kit that uses facsimile primary source material from the collection of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, and video testimony.
Time: 2 hours, including a tour of the synagogue.
Level: Designed for secondary pupils studying the Migration & Empire History topic.
4. Learning Kits: Refugee Stories
Working in small groups, pupils find out about an individual who came to Scotland as a refugee before the outbreak of the Second World War, and made their life here. The Kits are based on original archival material and interviews. Each kit takes around 50 minutes and is combined with a tour of the synagogue and kitchen.
Time: 2 hours, including a tour of the synagogue and kitchen
Level: Primary 6 to Secondary 2
5. Scotland a Sanctuary
The display in the Succah includes an illustrated timeline and panels showing events leading up to the Holocaust in Germany, how people responded in Scotland and how refugees found safety here.
Time: 20-30 minutes, can include a short quiz on the panels
Level: Secondary
For full information about all visit options:
Book a School Visit
School visits can take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and the cost per class visit is £50. To enquire about booking a school visit, please download and email the enquiry form to schools@sjhc.org.uk or phone 0141 332 4151 to discuss further:
Apply for a Travel Subsidy
We are part of the Scottish Government’s Heritage Travel Subsidy for Schools Scheme. Scottish schools can apply for up to 75% of transport costs (up to £300) for each class visit to the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre. This can be used for multiple class visits. The scheme is administered by Historic Environment Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, and requires a simple application form to be submitted to them – see this page for more information and for the form.
Thanks to generous assistance from our funders, we are able to offer some additional financial assistance in appropriate circumstances, to schools for travel costs that fall outwith the Scottish Government’s scheme. Please contact schools@sjhc.org.uk for more information.
Cancellation Policy
We can refund school visits which are cancelled more than 24 hours before the scheduled start time. If a cancellation or rescheduling is requested within 24 hours, the original booking must be paid for. As we are a charity with a small staffing resource, we greatly appreciate as much notice as possible of any changes to bookings.
