BIAZA Newsletter | Winter 2017 | Issue 13

Actively educating

zoo, to conducting investigations into animal behaviour. In the ‘Build your own zoo’ workshops, students design zoo enclosures out of Lego and these models are then appraised by the zoo’s experienced education staff. Interactive sessions such as these are designed to introduce young people to the intricacies of the zoo world and to combine a range of different STEM disciplines, from mathematics and technology to animal behaviour studies. Each year, 60,000 children attend the zoo as part of an education visit. Of these, 25,000 take part in an education workshop with zoo staff, and 7,000 pass through specialist STEM-based programmes. Since September 2016, hundreds of students have already taken part in the new education programme and the zoo has received highly positive feedback from teachers. Young people visiting Twycross Zoo in their leisure time can also explore the zoo on a range of exciting and activity-packed programmes which offer much more than just a general visitor’s view. For example, the Zoo Club is designed for children of 8 – 14 years and takes them on an engaging journey, discovering what it is like to work at the zoo as a keeper. Apart from practical hands-on experience, including making edible enrichment for the zoo’s animals, children also get the chance to play games with their new friends and learn about wildlife, nature and zoos from experienced keepers and education officers. The club usually runs during school holidays every day, Monday to Friday. Older teenagers can take part in Zooniversity, aimed at 15 – 18-year-olds, learning about what happens behind the scenes at Twycross Zoo. The young animal lovers take part in a fun week of activities from cleaning out enclosures to conducting research and designing animal enclosures. The Zooniversity runs on selected weeks during summer holidays. As a charity dedicated to wildlife conservation, Twycross Zoo shares this passion with youngsters who attend its weekend Conservation Club. Children learn why wild animals are endangered and what can be done to protect them, but also take part in various activities, such as making enrichment for the animals at the zoo. The Conservation Club is aimed at 8 – 12-year-olds and runs on selected Saturdays.

A new education programme at Twycross Zoo features exciting hands-on sessions Twycross Zoo, holder of the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge, has recently revamped its education programme for schools to better reflect changes to the new National Curriculum. The updated programme focuses on allowing children to experience science rather than just learning about it, with workshops available for children from Early Years through to Key Stage Five and beyond. Over the last ten years, Twycross Zoo has won seven BIAZA awards within the education category, achieving either winner or commended status. Following on from these achievements the zoo has redeveloped its programme to provide students with even more practical opportunities where they can experience science and other STEM subjects directly at the zoo, complementing their learning in the classroom. For example, students visiting the zoo get to handle real animal skeletons and fossils in sessions on evolution, variation and classification. There are also workshops where students can observe up close the zoo’s wide range of animal species, allowing them to compare the evolution of man with all four types of great ape at the

Photos: Twycross Zoo

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