www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk

Education Programmes & Activities

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee.Registered in England No. 585247. Registered Charity No. 209200. VAT No. 670 3187 40.

Updated 08-08-2016

Badger © 2015 Ann Scott

Atherstone

Coventry

Rugby

Southam

Wellesbourne

Warwick

Leamington Spa

Kenilworth

Dorridge

Solihull

Shipston-on-Stour

Stratford-upon-Avon

NuneatonColeshill

N

0201

Our Education Centres We have two Education Centres that are available for School Trips, making it even easier for children to engage in some Wild Time!

Brandon Marsh Nature Centre Brandon Marsh is the ideal place for your school visit as there are excellent opportunities for learning about wildlife, nature and the environment. We have ponds, bird hides, meadows and woodlands all set within our 200 acre nature reserve.

The Education Team can provide your school with a tailored package for your day, which could cover up to four different topics. We have excellent facilities for children of all ages as well as those with special educational needs. There is an area for children to eat their lunch outdoors or in the classroom as well as a tearoom if the teachers need a well-deserved cup of tea! The children can visit the gift shop during their lunchtime to purchase fun, wildlife souvenirs.

The Parkridge Centre The Parkridge Centre is in a great location in the heart of Brueton Park, Solihull. It is ideal for all children, young and old to explore the area and experience the wonderful nature and wildlife across the enclosed five acre nature reserve. There is a classroom and courtyard for the children as well as a well-marked path through the park. The Nature Reserve has a lake which attracts birds and other wildlife, an arboretum which is ideal for minibeast hunting or den building, a Forest School Woodland and a play area that can be used at lunchtime. The Parkridge Centre is a great place for introducing children to nature and the wildlife that they can find on their own doorstep. The reserve is very secure, with a fence running around it’s perimeter with easy access gates, if and when needed.

We welcome visits by schools and groups from

areas outside Warwickshire too!

WC

WC

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02 Parkridge CentreBrueton ParkWarwick RoadSolihull B91 3HW

0121 704 0768

Brandon Marsh Nature CentreBrandon LaneCoventry CV3 3GW

02476 308974

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How your day will work Our sessions are 45 minutes long as from experience we find this is enough time for children to learn lots whilst remaining fully engaged with our activities, this also allows plenty of time to fit more sessions into your visit. You can choose to have a full day visit with 4 activities or a half day visit with 2 activities. When you arrive at 10am at either of our two sites, we will meet you at the front of the centre and walk you and the children to our classroom. Your class will be able to store their lunches and valuables in the classroom whilst you’re out doing your chosen activities.

• 10:00 - 10:15 – Arrival and Introduction• 10:15 - 11:00 – Activity 1• 11:00 - 11:45 – Activity 2 • 11:45 - 12:30 – Lunch• 12:30 - 13:15 – Activity 3• 13:15 - 14:00 – Activity 4• 14:00 - 14:15 – Farewell and Departure

You are very welcome to stay on site longer, however this will be unguided. If you require a snack break, please let us know when booking as we can timetable this between activity one and two, therefore pushing your day back. We would advise a snack break of 15 minutes. (Pleasse provide your own snacks).

Activity options All our sessions can be adapted to suit your class and we can incorporate any topic that you are learning about, just let us know when booking.

Sessions can be offered as outreach visits too. Sessions are divided based on key stages but can also be changed to suit other stages and SEN.

Autumn and Winter ActivitiesWhy not visit us between October and March? At Warwickshire Wildlife Trust we understand that sometimes the class topic doesn’t best match the season and school term so we have adapted some sessions to help you continue the learning even during the winter months.

Robin © 2015 Ann Scott4

Spider © 2015 Ann Scott

Foundation StageEarly Years

All of our Early Years Foundation Stage sessions work alongside learning and development requirements including the prime areas of communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development as well as basic maths, literacy, understanding the world and expressive arts.

The prime areas our sessions incorporate are making relationships, self-confidence and self-awareness, managing feelings and behaviour, listening and attention, understanding, speaking, moving and handling, health and self-care. Specific areas that our sessions are linked to include, numbers, shape, space and measure, the world, exploring and using materials, being imaginative. Our sessions also support the Every Child Matters Agenda, Charter for Children’s Play and The Playwork Principles.

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Nuts about Nature Join us on a tour of our nature reserve in this excellent session perfect for first time nature explorers. We will go on a short walk with binoculars and a seasonal spotting sheet to see what things we can find together. In our inspiring art area children will do some natural art work of things they have spotted and they will make something to take back to school.

Duck Tales Quack Quack! Listen to the story of The Ugly Duckling and then we will go on an adventure to find him and his friends. Once we’ve had a look at the birds we will play some games and make birds nest’s for our fluffy toy birds.

Sensory ExplorerAn engaging session that will help your children focus on their 5 senses whilst visiting us as they join in with 5 short activities. Explore our nature reserve with your sense of smell as you make smelly potions, use your ears to listen to the sounds, get hands on as you feel the different natural materials, use your eyes to find the hidden mice and of course you’ll be doing lots of tasting at lunch!

Foundation StageEarly Years

Prickly FriendsA great introduction to hedgehogs and their night time lives. Learn all about what hedgehogs like to eat, why are they spikey and how many spikes they have? Children can explore their senses and creativity as they make a mud hedgehog and collect natural materials for the spikes, they’ll also get to play some fun hedgehog games. If you want the fun to last all morning then you can!

We offer a Prickly Friends Morning that is 1 hour 30 minutes; children will also get to play with our hedgehog puppets, build a home for them and hunt for some wild hedgehog food.

Magical Forest Magic awaits your group as you wander into our forest, make a wish with our magic beans, maybe it will grow into a beanstalk? Something terrible has happened to our fairies homes, can you help to find the pieces and rebuild a beautiful woodland palace? Get messy and mould a scary mud troll face that can look after our trees.

Hedgehog © 2015 Ann Scott

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Bugs and Bees Come on a mini-beast hunt on our nature reserve. Have a go with our exploration equipment as we go in search of mini-beasts, learn how to collect mini-beasts without hurting them and watch them all run around together, before your group stop to play a team game all about buzzy bees. Children will learn why bees collect nectar and how they make honey back in the hive.

Let’s get creative!Can you get creative with no resources? Let’s see how inventive your class is in this challenging arty session. Create a large stick picture or collage, have fun mud painting and look for nature’s colour palette.

Animal Babies Not all animal babies are cute and cuddly, some babies look like their parents and some look completely different. Match animal babies to their parents, discover what some babies like to eat and learn how parents keep their babies safe in the wild. This session will get the children learning lots all through the power of play.

Really Wild Maths Come along to our woodland and take on our maths treasure hunt, can you and your group find everything that is needed? Then solve some puzzling sums, answering using only natural materials. Make some silly shapes and pretty patterns out of anything you can find in our woodlands. Finally can your group work out the size of a tree by only using their hands?

TeddyBear AdventureIf you go into the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise… This session begins with the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Children will look for elements of the story and return them before seeing if they can sequence them as told. Then taking on aspects of the story, children will make some wild woodland porridge for our teddy bears and make a special home for them to go to sleep. You can bring your own furry friends along but if you would rather we have lots that always need some TLC. You can also come to our Teddy Bear Adventure Morning lasting 1 hour 30 minutes where the session is packed with all of the above plus lots of extralittle fun games.

Foundation StageEarly Years

Teddy © 2015 Steven Cheshire (WWT) 7

Key Stage One

Teddy Bear Adventure

Teddy Bear Adventure is an expansion on our EYFS activity, for more information see page 7.

Curriculum Links: Discuss sequence of events in books, become familiar with and retell stories, counting, represent numbers using objects, compare length and weight, work scientifically, everyday materials, seasonal change, living things and their habitats, uses of everyday materials, design and technology.

Sensory Explorer

Sensory Explorer is an expansion on our EYFS activity, for more information see above.

Curriculum Links: Counting, represent numbers using objects, compare length and weight, recognise 2D and 3D shapes, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal changes, living things and their habitats, design and technology.

Nuts about Nature

Nuts about Nature is an expansion on our EYFS activity, for more information see above.

Curriculum links: Counting, compare length and weight, recognise 2D and 3D shapes, work scientifically, plants, animals including humans, seasonal change, living things and their habitats, art and design, design and technology,.

Bugs and Bees Bugs and Bees is an expansion on our EYFS activity, for more information please see above.

Curriculum links: Counting, work scientifically, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal change, living things and their habitat.

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Mini-beast Mission

Come on a mini-beast hunt on our nature reserve, have a go with our exploration equipment as we go in search of mini-beasts, learn how to collect mini-beasts without hurting them and watch them all run around together. If your class loves mini-beast hunting then they will be pro’s after this 45 minute session of searching. We will also cover their different adaptations and habitats. Curriculum Links: Counting, work scientifically, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal change, living things and their habitat.

Brilliant Birds Visit one of our bird hides (Brandon Marsh only) or one of many busy wetland pools (both sites) to see what feathered friends you can spot. Use our binoculars to get a more detailed encounter and use identification guides to help recognise some of the birds and learn about their different adaptations. Curriculum links: Counting, work scientifically, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal change, living things and their habitat.

Woodland Adventure

What makes woodlands such a different habitat? Take part in lots of woodland activities; learn all about animals that live in this habitat, give a tree a hug, and feel the texture of the trees, as you complete a bark rubbing. This session is jam-packed with lots of activities that will keep children fully engaged throughout.

Curriculum links: Compare length and weight, working scientifically, plants, animals including humans, seasons, living things and their habitats.

Key Stage OneOne

© 2015 Shutterstock

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Mammal Discovery

Meet our cuddly mammal puppets and discover what makes mammals, including us, so different from other animal groups. Learn lots of facts about Rabbits, Badgers, Foxes, Moles, Otters and Bats. Build our animals a home and think about what kind of shelter they would need and how they can stay protected in the wild. Play a sniffy game as we explore some of their super senses. Curriculum links: Animals including humans, seasons, living things and their habitats, design and technology.

Wild about Rabbits

If Rabbits are your hot topic then the class will love this fun session. Watch as we transform a willing class friend into a Rabbit, when they get dressed up in our costume. Learn about some of their body parts and what they might use them for, could it be for camouflage, protection or to help them eat? We will then go to the

meadow and play a fast tagging game that will get the children learning about what 4 things

animals, including us need to survive and predators, and predator /prey relationships.

Curriculum links: Animals including humans, seasons, living things and their

habitats.

Key Stage OneOne

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Flowersand Bees

Relax in the calm of our Nature Reserve, wander and explore the many uses of plants and the part they play on our planet. Learn all about the parts of plants and their functions with our fun actions that children will be repeating for days. Before completing our plant jigsaws as children label the plant parts they’ve learnt. Take a closer look at the flower and explore as a class all the parts different functions and plant reproduction. After all that plant action, children can burn off some energy with our very busy bee relay race and learn why plants are so important for bees. Curriculum links: Working scientifically, plants, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal changes, living things and their habitats.

Underwater Habitats

Have a dip in our pond and hunt for all the creatures that live in this habitat. Can you find any strange mini-beasts that might live in the ponds or maybe some amphibians too? In this flexible session children can explore freely but if they wish they can also play a game that will get them learning the stages of a Frog’s Life Cycle and hopping around too. Curriculum links: Working scientifically, animals including humans, living things and their habitats.

Key Stage OneOne

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Navigate the Weather

Navigate the Weather “We’re off on an adventure and the adults are taking a back seat. Complete simple and scientific observations to learn about the weather and seasons in nature. Children will use their map and compass skills as the find their way across our Nature Reserve, adding human and physical field notes along the way.. Curriculum links: work scientifically, seasonal change, human and physical geography.

Nocturnal Animals

What mysterious critters come out at night and how do they survive in the dark? Learn all about nocturnal animals and some of their super senses as we explore pictures and puppets whilst learning some fun facts. One flying nocturnal animal has a particularly special sense, something that humans do not have; we will play a game to help you understand this unique sense. Finally, can you build the perfect shelter for a nocturnal animal cuddly toy so that they can sleep safely in the day? Curriculum links: Animals including humans, seasons, living things and their habitats, design and technology.

Key Stage OneOne

Art in the wild Think about all the materials you need to make a brilliant masterpiece, but in the wild there are none, or are there? Can your group complete the challenge to create a gigantic picture made only with natural materials? Then hunt for materials to add some colour to their picture too. Finally, make a seasonal collage craft to take home as well. Curriculum links: Counting, compare length and weight, recognise 2D and 3D shapes, everyday materials, uses of everyday materials, art and design, design and technology.

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Hedgehogs and Hibernators

A special look at nocturnal animals with a particular focus all about one of the nations most loved mammals. You will learn lots of very surprising facts about hedgehogs and can even share some of your own stories. We will play a searching game to think about an embarrassing problem that hedgehogs have, build our cuddly hedgehog toys a home for the winter as they prepare to go to hibernate and finally get muddy and creative as we make our own pet mud hedgehogs. Curriculum links: Animals including humans, seasons, living things and their habitats, design and technology.

Really Wild Maths

Go down into the deep dark woods and take on our fun maths challenges. How many leaves can your group find in two minutes, can you sort them into the correct

groups, creating a human sized graph when you have finished. Answer our creative calculations just using natural materials, and then work out the circumference of a tree by using a leaf. This

session is full of different ways to bring maths outdoors while still being fun and engaging.

Curriculum links: Counting, represent numbers using objects,

measurement, statistics, recognise 2D and 3D objects, compare length

and weight, working scientifically, everyday materials, seasonal changes.

Key Stage OneOne

© 2015 Shutterstock

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Mini-beast Mission

This is an expansion on our Key Stage 1 activity, for more information please see page 9. Curriculum Links: Working scientifically, animals including humans, living things and their habitats.

Wild about Rabbits

This is an expansion on our Key stage 1 activity, for more information please see above. Curriculum links: Working scientifically, animals including humans, living things and their habitats.

Underwater Habitats

This is an expansion on our Key Stage 1 activity, for more information please see above. Curriculum links: Working scientifically, animals including humans, living things and their habitats.

Flowers and Bees

This is an expansion on our Key Stage 1 activity, for more information please see above. Curriculum links: Working scientifically, plants, animals including humans, living things and their habitats.

Map the Marsh Find your way across our Nature reserve with just a map and compass, then use your skills and observations to create your own map of the area, recognising Ordnance Survey Symbols and 4 figure grid references”

Curriculum links: work scientifically, seasonal change,

human and physical geography.

Key Stage TwoTwo

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Food Chains How does a food chain start? With energy, but where does all of the energy come from? Learn the food chain process from start to end as we build a group food chain with some willing volunteers. Children will be able to name the processes of a food chain and create one with different animals, based on the type of food they eat. Then we will play a food chain game, exploring predator/prey relationships. Curriculum links: Working scientifically, animals including humans, living things and their habitats.

Key Stage TwoTwo

Den Building Every living thing needs a home but what makes a good home? Learn together all about shelter and factors that would affect your survival in the wild and then try to build a den to stay safe. You might want a waterproof den, maybe warm and cosy too, it could be camouflaged, what else would you need to survive? This session will get children thinking about survival, shelters and habitats plus teamwork, materials and building. Curriculum links: living things and their habitat, everyday materials, design and technology, physical education.

Rock stars Today your class can be real scientists as they carry out experiments on a whole lot of rocks! Learning all three types of rock and then carrying out some simple science experiments on them, based on their appearance and physical properties. Thinking about how rocks have formed and how some may have fossils within, before carrying out more experiments to see if they can name the rocks they have discovered. Curriculum Links: Work scientifically, rocks.

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Pond Dipping © 2015 Sue Crookes (WildNet)

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TREEmendous How tall is that tree? How old is that tree? As woodland investigators, it is your group’s job to find out, but how can they do that? Using our fun and bright worksheet in groups to measure the height of their chosen tree, and with some simple maths, calculate the age too. Get to know the leaves and bark as they use the helpful keys in our identification guides to find the name of their tree. Curriculum links: work scientifically, plants, living things and their habitats.

Really Wild Maths

Come down to our wonderful woodland where a series of mysterious maths challenges will await you. Can your class find two identical leaves? Is it even possible? Help devise a fair test to estimate and measure different aspects of a leaf using unusual methods and

display results on a graph made out of only natural materials. They will also get the chance to work

out the circumference of a tree only using their hands.

Curriculum links: Counting, represent numbers using objects, measurement, statistics, recognise 2D and 3D objects, compare length and weight working scientifically, everyday materials, seasonal

changes.

Team Building What better setting to get a class working well together than on a Nature Reserve? Enjoy some fun outdoor team challenge games based on wildlife on the reserve and Forest School theories to get everyone working well together. Which team will be the winners and what makes the best team? Curriculum links: Physical Education, PHSE.

Key Stage TwoTwo

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Key Stage Three & FourThree/Four

Belt Transect The session runs March – October and lasts for the whole morning over an hour and a half. Your group will learn how to lay a belt transect and how to use a quadrat, before using the method to evaluate changes in vegetation from an area of open grassland to woodland. This session will also include a look at abiotic data, for both areas, to make links between why abiotic factors may have an effect on biotic data gathered. This session also allows groups to look at species richness, diversity, evenness and use Simpson’s index of diversity if needed.

Invertebrate Sampling and Comparison.

The session runs March – October and lasts for the whole morning over an hour and a half. Identifying different invertebrate orders and species and learning the different techniques widely used to sample them. During this session your group will compare the variety of invertebrates they’ve sampled in woodlands and out on a meadow. Alongside this they will also take abiotic readings to draw conclusions from their data set.

Our Key stage 3 and 4 sessions are designed to offer you additional expertise to engage pupils with scientific enquiries and skills for the future. Sessions advertised are just a guideline of what we have to offer, we are not limited to these sessions and we can tailor fieldwork around your requirements. Please contact us if you would like to discuss your fieldwork options and what we can provide for your school.

Vegetation Sampling

The session runs March – October and lasts for the whole morning over an hour and a half. Your group will sample vegetation out on our meadow to identify common species found in certain habitats, using our keys and identification guides. Using a quadrat they will look for a particular species abundance, distribution and will estimate species cover for the area, using both random and semi-random sampling techniques.

Dragonfly Nymph © 2015 Ann Scott

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Key Stage Three & FourThree/Four

Aquatic Ecology

This session can be delivered in two forms; the first is a 45 minute session which includes invertebrate sampling to identify common invertebrate species found in a pond and their adaptions. Alongside this abiotic readings are taken to see how different factors influence the pond and the species that live there. The second is an hour and a half, this includes what is listed above, but in addition to this a pond comparison is made by sampling a second pond, for both biotic and abiotic data. This session also allows groups to look at species richness, diversity, evenness and use Simpson’s index of diversity if needed.

Nature Walk Come for a guided walk on our nature reserve, where we will take your group round the various habitats our wonderful sites have to offer. We can adapt this walk to fit for the topic you would like covered, whether that is relationships in an ecosystem or how organisms are interdependent and adapted to their environment. Please make us aware of the topic you would like covered when booking.

Team Building What better setting to get a group working well together than on a Nature Reserve? Enjoy some fun outdoor team challenge games, some of which require planning and thought, whilst others are wide games, which require running and group effort to succeed. Which team will be the winners and what makes the best team? Find out in this fun for all session.

Den building Our den building session encourages a group to bond and develop as a team; it also helps to build personal confidence within a pupil. This session is perfect complementing more academic sessions, but can be adapted to really get pupils thinking about different habitats and adaptations in creatures that are needed to survive.

Great Diving Beetle © 2015 Ann Scott

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Session Costs Session type Cost / *Min Fee +VAT

Primary - Half-day visit £4.50 per child / *£80

Primary - Full-day visit £6.50 per child / *£130

Secondary - Full-day visit £7 per child / *£140After-school club 1 hour x10 week programme

£700

Bespoke Visit – 1 Hour £3.50 per child

Bespoke Visit – 2 Hours £4 per child

School Assembly – 30 Minutes £45

School Assembly – 1 Hour £85

Nature Tots £3 per child

How to Book To discuss your visit or make a booking, please contact:Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Head OfficeBrandon Marsh Nature Centre,Brandon Lane, Coventry, CV3 3GW

Brandon Marsh 02476 308974 The Parkridge Centre 0121 704 0768

For all school bookingsand enquiries,please contact...

Staff

BRANDON MARSH EDUCATION OFFICERKatie Tiernan

PARKRIDGE CENTREEDUCATION OFFICERJessie Longstaff

EDUCATION MANAGERVicky Dunne

v.dunne@wkwt.org.uk

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Outdoor ProvisionTeacher Training Embracing outdoor learning can be a daunting learning experience to adopt but the results are truly beneficial to children. At Warwickshire Wildlife Trust we can provide taster workshops at your school covering the basic principles of outdoor learning and offer ideas and suggestions to use in your setting. For more details please feel free to get in contact and we can discuss your requirements from the training.

Wildlife WatchSchools Membership Wildlife Watch is the junior branch of The Wildlife Trust and the UK’s most subscribed nature magazine for children. Teachers, individual classes, whole schools and conservation clubs can join up as Wildlife Watch members. You will receive exciting welcome goodies, issues of Wildlife Watch magazine four times a year for children to enjoy, plus the LINK magazine packed full of resources for teachers. You will also receive a monthly e-newsletter full of wild ideas and exclusive access to the Wildlife Watch website where you can download resources and activities for FREE.

Members can also complete challenges to earn their Wildlife Watch Awards and receive a badge and certificate. The awards programme is perfect for Eco-Schools awards, after school club inspiration and any budding nature enthusiasts that would benefit from some individual direction. To become a school member please contact us.

Nature TotsNature Tots aims to encourage an early interest in wildlife. With this in mind, we hold many activities outdoors, in the natural surroundings of our reserves at Brandon Marsh and the Parkridge Centre. The rest of the time is spent playing games outdoors and finishing with a craft indoors. Nature Tots runs weekly during term time on Thursday mornings 10:30am – 12pm at Brandon Marsh Nature Centre and Friday 10:30am – 12pm and 13:00pm – 14:30pm at the Parkridge Centre. These sessions are aimed at children aged 2 to 4 years, booking for these sessions is essential. 21

WE CAN COME TO YOU!If you would love a visit from one of our Education Officer we are happy to visit you. We offer A “Help for Hedgehogs” assembly, bespoke on-site sessions and after school programmes.

What you need to know WHAT TO WEAR?As we are a Nature Reserve we like to embrace the outdoors, in all types of weather, the majority of your day will be spent outdoors, please come dressed suitably for the occasion. Whilst we do try to find shelter during our activities it is not always possible, here is a kit list to help you and the children get organised.

LUNCHESWe have plenty of picnic benches for schools to enjoy their lunches with us and recycling bins for a bit of lunchtime practice. When you get off your coach please bring your lunch with you, we will keep them safe on trolleys. We encourage children to bring a disposable lunch rather than bulky bags on school trips to save space, that way there is less to remember at the end of the day too! Please ensure all lunches and drinks bottles have the child’s name on, and if you have chosen to bring a snack, ensure it is easily recognisable sochildren don’t begin their lunch early. RISK ASSESSMENTSThe Trust writes full risk assessments for all the activities it runs for groups. These are not available for schools to use. However if you require a site pre-visit, one of the Education Team can arrange this for you. Please call 02476 308974 or v.dunne@wkwt.org.uk.

SUMMER

Lightweight long sleeves and long trousers - Children may be in long grasses Sun hat and creamWaterproofsOld sturdy trainers or Wellies

WINTER

At least two long sleeved layers and a coatWaterproofsHat, scarf, glovesSturdy shoes or Wellies

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Wildlife Watch © 2015 Tom Marshall (WildNet)

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© 2015 Shutterstock

Education Programmes & Activities

Front Cover - Badger © 2015 Ann Scott

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust

Brandon Marsh Nature Centre, Brandon Lane, Coventry, CV3 3GW

02476 308974 v.dunne@wkwt.org.uk