Find My Activities

At the moment you’re seeing all our itinerary suggestions for a school trip to St Ives; to refine what you see please click the relevant filters. To save your search download a pdf and keep it on your desktop as a reference.

Please note that all prices are for guidance only and are subject to change. If you’d like more detail on anything do get in touch with the relevant supplier or email us on hello@stayatcohort.co.uk.

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Beach Clean with Beach Guardian

Beach Guardian, an award winning social enterprise, aims to engage, educate and empower against plastic pollution. They can organise an engaging session on the beach where the group will not only clean but learn what plastics to look for, why they are so dangerous, where they have come from and what they can do when they leave St Ives.

Suitable for all ages.

Free

It’s a Hard Rock Life – Talk

Join Cornishman Clint Hosking and friends to gain a colourful overview of Cornish mining culture and history and why it is important enough to have received World Heritage status.

Clint will bring rock samples, photographs, tools, mining equipment, clothing, etc which form part of Geevor’s handling collection. Pupils can explore the artefacts for themselves so it is a very hands on interactive session.

This engaging talk can be conducted on site at Geevor Tin Mine or at Cohort and can be adapted for any age group or curriculum focus. It can take place during the day or evening and is highly recommended for all groups looking to understand a little more about Cornish culture.

Duration: 1 hour. Maximum group size: 60.

£65/session

Foxes Fair

3-piece traditional folk band available to hire for an evening’s entertainment at Cohort. Suitable for all ages.

Inspired by the deep well of traditional folk music, tailoring songs and melodies to fit their own unique musical style, Foxes Fair’s playful string arrangements provide a delightful backdrop to their natural and effortless harmonies. Their sound as timeless as their topics, they tell stories of death, nature and love.

Foxes Fair’s live performances are permeated by a warmth and comradery rarely seen to this extent in musical groups, friendship clearly binding these ladies as much as the love for the music they make.

Please note that bands can only be booked if the group has exclusive use of Cohort.

£200 (2 x 45 minute sets or equivalent)

Merlin Cinema

Pop over the road (literally) to our local cinema where they are happy to take advance, group bookings. You can even hire a whole cinema screen if you want to go to town. Merlin Cinemas are across Cornwall and very affordable. They show all the latest blockbusters as well as live screenings from the Royal Ballet, RSC and National Theatre.

See their website for more details.

£5-7 per person

SK8 St Ives

Join the fabulous SK8PZ for a roller skating session at the Island Centre in St Ives. SK8PZ is a roller skating CIC who provide fun and fitness on skates for ages 5 and up.

A 90 minute session will start off with safety information and fundamental techniques, progressing on to skills and tricks which are then reinforced through fun and games. There’s always time for a bit of disco at the end too!

Roller skating has been shown to improve anxiety and loneliness through a pressure-free social activity. Skating facilitates neuroplasticity and reduces stress, which helps pupils overcome adversity and maintain a positive mindset. In short, it’s a great way to spend an evening in St Ives. The Island Centre is a 10 minute walk from Cohort.

SK8PZ has all the relevant risk asessments, safeguarding, DBS checks and insurance in place. Maximum group size 30-35 but larger groups can be accommodated by staggering sessions.

£160/90 minute session (allow 2 hours). All skates included.

Setting the Scene

Fun visual memory mapping activities to help students make the most of their visit.

Setting the Scene is a fast-moving creative workshop designed to help students arrive, reset and fully engage with everything ahead of them during their stay in St Ives.

Ideal for the first evening or arrival day, the session channels the excitement of finally being here into a personalised visual journal using artist Oliver West’s “Footnotes Grids” system — a playful drawing and annotation technique that helps students capture thoughts, observations, expectations and memorable moments beyond words alone.

With over 33 separate Gridding activities available, each workshop can be tailored to the age, focus and needs of your group – from creative exploration and mindful observation to team building, storytelling and reflective journaling.

This workshop takes place at Cohort and lasts approx. 90 minutes.

£150/workshop for <30 students. £180/workshop for over 31 students.

Cornwall: A Geologist’s Perspective

Cornwall: A Geologist’s Perspective is an entertaining virtual journey into Cornwall’s geological past with the Cornwall Geologist, Dr Sam Hughes.

Venture through Cornwall’s story of plate tectonics, and how the rocks beneath our feet can tell us about a time when Cornwall was at the bottom of an ocean and then centre of a giant mountain range. Understand how the last 400 million years has shaped the landscape around us today, influencing industries that define the county’s history, present day, and future. Find out what it means to be a geologist, and what careers are available around the world. More bespoke Earth science topics can be covered on request.

This fascinating and engaging talk will last 1 – 2 hours including a Q&A session and takes place at Cohort. A must-do evening activity for all geographers and budding geologists.

£120/talk

Self-led Beach Clean

Pick up leaflets and bags from staff at Cohort who will give you a quick introduction to beach cleaning and tell you what to look out for. Head down to one of our 5 amazing beaches for an hour of beach cleaning. It’s weirdly addictive and also hugely beneficial to the communities in St Ives.

Free

Du Glas

Du Glas, Cornish for ‘black’ and ‘blue’ offer their own brand of acoustic folk combining influences from Americana and country rock. Born out of the vibrant Cornish music scene their sound is inventive and energetic and you can’t help bop around in your seat or get up and dance.

They will deliver an awesome 2 hour set (including an interval) for the group and it’s a great way to spend an evening. If the weather is good they’ll perform outside in the courtyard otherwise it will be up in the lounge – Wesley Hall.

A fab evening’s entertainment. Only suitable for those groups with exclusive use of the hostel.

£200 for a 2 hour set with interval

Bodyboarding (hire)

Hire body boards (and wet suits if you need them) from St Ives Surf School for up to 2 hours and have a great time in the water.

Provided students stay within the allotted area for bodyboarding then they will be well looked after by RNLI lifeguards.

St Ives Surf School are AALA Licensed

£12/2 hours + £12/2 hours for wet suit hire. Discounts available for educational groups.

The Core

An amazing space at the St Ives Community Orchard at the top of town.

Ideal for workshops, mindfulness or use it as a space to review your day with your students. Surrounded by the peace of the St Ives Community Orchard The Core is available for schools to hire or explore mindfulness workshops, yoga workshops or anything to do with nature.

Just a 15 minute walk from Cohort, The Core gives you the opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle and truly review your time in St Ives. Max size: 60

£20/hour

Unwind & Create

Let Rowena Tarplee lead you in a meditative evening of soap-carving inspired by Barbara Hepworth.

A wonderful way to relax together after a busy day in St Ives or travelling. All materials will be provided, including a full range of professional sculpting tools – such as specialist carving knives, rasps, files, and fine modelling tools – essential for creating your own intricate masterpieces.

This workshop takes place at Cohort and lasts approx. 90 minutes.

£170/workshop for up to 20 students. Additional students charged at £5/student.

Light Painting Photography

Work with Chris Webber to combine the art of photography with the captivating technique of light painting, creating a mesmerising fusion of creativity and technical skills. Light painting allows the students to capture a choice of light beams by setting their cameras on long exposures, adding surreal and magical elements to their images.

Chris takes advantage of the wide open spaces available in St Ives to run this dusk / night time workshop. He will teach students how to set up their images and how the effect of long exposures can be a brilliant tool for future projects.

This is an inclusive workshop and, as well as SLRs, students can use any smart phone to participate in this activity.

Booked this activity? Download the risk assessment here.

£180/workshop

Country Skittles

Set in beautiful rural surroundings a couple of miles out of Hayle (15 minutes by coach / minibus from St Ives) you can spend the evening at this unique venue where students can play a couple of games of old-fashioned 9-pin skittles and have a great meal.

It’s a brilliant way to spend the evening and a real break.

Approx £15/person for a meal + 2 games of skittles

Nick Baker – Talks & Seminars

Experienced geography / geology tutor and published author Nick Baker offers a number of different talks and seminars which can be conducted on site at Cohort. Each talk is 40 – 60 minutes and is followed by a Q&A, discussion & guided seminar.

A Rural Legacy Lost (1 hour)

The story of a largely forgotten culture, lifestyle and dialect associated with net fishing for salmon at the village of Stoke Gabriel on the River Dart in Devon. When all fishing licences were eventually bought out with climate change threatening sustainability, this impacted the ingrained social, economic and cultural history of the settlement illustrating how global changes can be felt at a local level.

The story of the Providence mines of Carbis Bay, St. Ives (45 – 60 minutes)

Surface evidence of these mines is now virtually non-existent, smothered under a carpet of modern development. Dealt with chronologically, with an underpinning geological rationale for its existence, it harnesses the rapidly fluctuating financial and human fortunes of this enterprise through optimism, trial, tragedy and ultimate abandonment.

Carbis Bay: Then and Now (30 – 40 minutes)

This talk looks at the rapidly expanding impact of tourism on Carbis Bay and how it has changed in response.

£100 / talk

Minack Theatre (performances)

The Minack is a unique open air theatre perched on the cliffs above the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an extraordinary place to visit and during the summer months (May – September) they have a great programme of theatre performances, both evening and matinee.

Check what’s on to see if you can organise watching something during your trip.

£5-10/person

The Wrap Party

In teams or as individuals, Oliver will guide students in drawing based note taking techniques “Footnotes Grids“ to recall and review their trip experience. Once armed with a populated Grid the fun begins! Students are encouraged to further detail or showcase from their Grids. (When run as a team based activity, students will have the opportunity to share various themed “challenges” as a fun way of celebrating the highlights of your visit).

This activity provides a fabulous way of recalling the obvious and the random sights, sounds and experiences of the day. The creation of this time capsule piece, ensures that those memories can be kept alive for years to come! The Grids also double as a valuable “where to next “ resource as they provide the building blocks for further projects. See more information about Visual Multi-layered Thinking here.

This evening workshop runs 90 minutes and takes place at Cohort. It is suitable for all ages and any sized group.

£180/group (£150/group for group sizes of 29 or less)

Walk to (or from) Lelant Saltings

Leave the hostel and head to Porthminster Beach. From the far end of the beach outside the restaurant pick up the SW Coast Path towards Lelant / Hayle. Follow it through Carbis Bay, over the dunes at Porthkidney Sands (dipping down the beach if you like) and on to St Uny Church where you can walk 1km of super quiet road / path to Lelant Saltings station.

Pick up the train to come back to St Ives (£1-2).

Allow 90 minutes with good walkers and no stopping or 3 hours for slower walkers with lots of stops.

Free

Evening Art Talks

Sit back and relax in the comfort of Cohort’s lounge area and let Nicky and her slideshow guide your students around St Ives and its fascinating, artistic history.

If you don’t have time for the walk around town or you’re looking for an evening activity you can choose to have the slideshow instead…or as well as! From either of the tours on offer you can opt for ‘Walk Amongst Artists’ or ‘Barbara Hepworth. Bronze, Marble, Stone; The Life and Loves of a Sculptor’ as a talk.

If you prefer to focus on a specific artist, for example: Alfred Wallis, Terry Frost, Bryan Pearce, Wilhelmina Barns Graham, etc, please talk to Nicky and she will do her best to accommodate that focus.

Student participation is encouraged during the slideshow, what do they think about the artists in St Ives? And why this town?

Duration: 60minutes. No maximum group size.

£120/talk

Kidz R Us

If you’re staying with us over the summer months or during part of the school holidays a trip to see the ‘show of the moment’ at the Kidz R Us theatre next door is a must.

They are an award winning theatre company who have spawned talent such as the recent The Voice winner Molly Hocking.

Performers ages range from 6 – 21 and the quality of production is incredible.

£10-12 per person

Cornish Poetry Workshop

Join Ellen Valente, poet and academic, for this unusual and creative evening workshop which takes place in the lounge at Cohort.

Over the course of an hour this workshop will provide students with an understanding of Cornish history and its reinterpretation in art and literature. Students will create poems (artistic responses) inspired by the sounds of Cornwall, giving them the opportunity to respond in a literary way to Cornish Culture and the local landscape.

This workshop provides the opportunity for students to tap into cross-curriculum skills such as critical thinking and literacy; an ideal accompaniment to whatever the focus of the trip has been.

The workshop is suitable for all ages (KS2+) and you can download more details here.

£100/workshop

Bodmin Jail

Explore history like never before at Bodmin Jail! The unique setting spans the Georgian and Victorian eras, offering an immersive journey into crime, punishment, and social change from the 1700s to 1900s. They cater to all age groups and align visits with the National Curriculum.

There are two options: (1) School Guided Tours (from £7.80/student) which include a dedicated tour guide and structured activities. Perfect for deeper historical engagement; or (2) Self-guided Tours (from £6.80/student) where you can explore at your own pace; ideal for recreational groups. From £6.80 per student. In all instances, teachers and assistants go free.

It’s a great option for on the way down to us or on the way home as it’s around 1 hour from St Ives by coach.

Allow 2 – 3 hours for a visit (depending on the size of the group).

£6.80-£7.80/student and staff go free

St Ives eBikes

2-3 hour guided eBike rides exploring the wilds of West Cornwall, cycling on a combination of quiet lanes and bridleways. Tours are fully customisable and can include stops at viewpoints, megalithic sites and old mine works.

Guides are qualified ride leaders and participants must be 14yrs+, able to ride a bike and have a modest level of fitness.

Groups of <21 participants including staff. All equipment provided.

£35 per person

Melodies of Cornwall

Join singer songwriter Nicole Tesseyman for a fabulous musical session on site at Cohort.

Nicole will sing and play some of her own, St Ives/Cornwall-inspired songs and sea shanties explaining the meaning behind them and how she came to write them. She will then teach the group a couple of Cornish songs to sing together; finally leading the group to write their own Sea Shanty.

This will encourage them to reflect on what they have learned about St Ives, build new creative skills, gain in confidence and – more importantly – have fun with music.

Great for all ages and a perfect take away from any trip to St Ives. Sessions last between 90 – 120 minutes depending on the size of the group.

Booked this activity? Download the risk assessment here.

£150 for groups of 30 students or less; £180 for groups of 31 students or more (staff excluded)