Tilgate Nature Centre
Teacher Resource Pack 2018
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Contents:
1. Directions to the car park & map of the area
2. Map of Tilgate Nature Centre
3. Who lives at the Nature Centre?
4. Your visit: getting around, lunch options, bag storage, opening times, prices.
5. Health & Safety: supervision ratios, lost child procedure, fire procedure, first aid, visitor rules.
6. Risk assessment
Declaration: to save paper please don’t print this pack.
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1. Directions to main car park & map Main car park & coach parking Address: Tilgate Park, Tilgate Drive, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 5PQ
Children’s play area
A23 Junction 11 /Pease Pottage roundabout
Nature Centre Walled entrance Garden
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Handwashing facilities 2. Tilgate Nature Centre Map
Toilets
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3. Who lives at the Nature Centre?
The Nature Centre is currenly split into 8 zones. Each zone, excluding the Domestic Zone, represents an area of the world. This means the animals which you’ll see in each zone will change in appearance! Look out for these famous faces in each zone:
Asia Zone Kasem the otter Domestic Zone Boris the pig Americas Zone Gloria the green- winged macaw
Africa Zone Australasia Zone Priscilla the meerkat Jirra the kangaroo
Europe Zone Gwen the snowy owl
Madagascar Zone 4. Your visit Sadika and Rambony the ring-tailed lemurs
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4. Your visit
Getting around:
The entire Nature Centre is fully ramped and therefore accessible by wheelchair. We also have a disabled toilet that is fitted with an adult-size hoist and changing table.
Lunch options
For a self-led visit the Nature Centre does not have facilities for a sheltered lunch. Please bear this in mind when planning your trip.
Bag storage
For a self-led visit the Nature Centre does not have facilities for bag storage. Please bear this in mind when planning your trip.
Opening times
British Summer Time (BST): 10am – 6pm (last entry at 5pm) Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): 10am – 4pm (last entry at 3pm)
Prices
Crawley schools: self-led visits are completely free Non-Crawley schools: normal entry cost applies - £2.50 per child, adults are free. Coach parking is free. Please use the coach bays in Tilgate Park’s main car park.
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5. Health and safety
Supervision
Visiting school pupils should be supervised by their own staff at all times. Pupil to staff ratios are to be decided by, and are the concern of, the visiting school. Loco parentis remains with the accompanying adults/leaders/teachers throughout their visit.
Lost children
Report a lost child to the nearest member of staff as soon as you can. All Nature Centre and Park staff are equipped with radios and are trained to deal with cases of lost children. Equally, children should be told what to do in the event they themselves are lost: find a member of staff straight away. All Nature Centre staff wear maroon polo shirts and jumpers while Tilgate Park staff wear purple.
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Fire procedure
In the event of a fire please make your way to the entrance of the Nature Centre where you will be directed by staff to the fire assembly point in the staff car park.
First aid
In the event that first aid is needed please find the nearest member of staff. They can radio for trained staff to administer first aid and call emergency services if necessary.
Visitor rules
The following rules are for the welfare of our animals, the health and safety of your group and the smooth running of our service to all guests.
• Do not cross safety barriers. The barriers are there for your protection.
• Do not reach into animal enclosures. Although our animals are captive bred, they are not tame and may bite.
• Do not chase or tease the animals. Stress can make animals unwell.
• Do not feed the animals. Our animals are given a carefully balanced diet and additional feeding may cause illness and even death. Litter, pencils, coins etc. thrown into animal enclosures can kill.
• Do not run or shout near the aviaries and enclosures. It may scare the animals.
Noise and standards of behaviour must remain at an acceptable level as judged appropriate by Park staff. We reserve the right to evict any individual or group that causes a nuisance to our animals or to other visitors.
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6. Risk Assessment
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