A focus on Chester Zoo, a major wildlife charity, and all that it has to offer school groups.
Aiming to inspire a connection with nature and wildlife, and empower the next generation of conservationists, Chester Zoo’s education team and programmes are second to none.
Not only do they work with all key stages, covering cross-curricular learning, but the team can also help schools organise staff training and inset days as well as supporting teachers with planning a conservation curriculum.
It has recently opened a state-of-the-art education centre, the Conservation Education Hub, which features three large classrooms, a recording studio and covered outdoor space, with capacity to host more than 50,000 pupils and teachers every year.
With more than 31,000 animals, 128 acres of zoological gardens, as well as more than 200 resources to support your trip, Chester Zoo is ideal for visits year-round. It’s a popular choice for fun end-of-year summer visits (look out for new arrivals this year in particular) and is also ideal when it’s a little quieter in early autumn or April/May, especially for those not taking part in exams.
Teachers and educational visits coordinators can opt for a self-guided visit – there are animal talks to join in with, as well as informative and entertaining interpretations at the various habitats. Or there are a huge range of sessions to choose from across the curriculum-linked workshops, all of which invite students to delve into the work of Chester Zoo, including its conservation efforts around the world to help prevent extinction.
Top tips for your school visit to Chester Zoo
- There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Pack appropriate clothing and items for your visit. Hats and suncream in the summer, warm waterproofs and wellies in the winter.
- Make sure you have a fully charged phone or camera to capture the memories of the day.
- Bring along any resources you would like your group to complete during your visit.
Free resources – for teachers and students
To enhance your trip even further, make use of the extensive resources available before, during and after visiting the zoo. You can search by age, subject, resource type and topic. There are videos, fact files, images and games. There are also activities your group can take part in at the zoo, back at school and at home.
And the learning doesn’t stop with your students. Chester Zoo is celebrating the opening of its new Learning Centre with a range of free engaging, curriculum-linked CPD events to give you the tools to empower young people to live more sustainably and prevent extinction.
They also offer Conservation Curriculum Toolkits featuring lesson plans, assembly planners, topic webs, progression overviews and more to help get your whole school started on their own conservation curriculum journey.
Examples of exciting workshops available
Climate & Sustainability Walking Tour (KS3): this new offer coincides with the opening of the Himalayas Habitat. Students will visit the habitats of iconic species such as snow leopards (which have recently arrived), red pandas, Caribbean flamingos, Komodo dragons and Humboldt penguins. There are links to biology, chemistry and geography.
Conservation Escape Room (upper KS2 & 3): the ideal way for groups to discover more about conservation while solving puzzles and working collaboratively. In this immersive experience, students will explore the dark world of illegal wildlife trade, learn about the role zoos play in combating this, and how Chester Zoo is preventing extinction.
Guess Zoo? A Classification Gameshow (KS2): taking place in the interactive Sumba House Digital Theatre, this new session invites teams of students to take part in a new game show to identify different animals from furs, feathers, skulls and skeletons. It ties in with the science curriculum topic ‘Living things and their habitats’.
For more information about school visits and bookings visit chesterzoo.org/schools/.
You can also contact the team by emailing learning@chesterzoo.org or calling 01244 389831 / 01244 389444.
