Education Information Pack [email protected] 01827 252436 Contents Drayton Manor Mission Statement Education Department Aims & Overview Planning Your Visit Every Person Matters Reception and KS1 Workshops Primary Theme Park Workshops Primary Zoo Workshops Secondary & College Business Workshops Secondary & College Theme Park Workshops Education Activity Days Prices Example Timetables Booking Form Park Mission Statement “To deliver the best family day out in the UK at good honest prices.” Education Mission Statement “To deliver an outstanding programme of education for all our visiting school groups and guests, which promotes enjoyment, achievement and active learning.” Education Department- Our Aims To educate the zoo visitation about animals, conservation, sustainability and improve their social and environmental awareness where appropriate. • To improve guest knowledge of the important conservation work that zoos do and motivate them to be greener -raising awareness and understanding of the living world and the responsibilities we have to care for it. • To provide a welcoming and caring environment for all visitors to the Discovery Centre. • To support the work of schools through the delivery of high quality educational workshops that support the National Curriculum, key skills and the Every Child Matters agenda • To promote the use of Drayton Manor as an educational facility by creating exciting, challenging and inspiring experiences for all involved through a variety of different workshops and activities. Overview of Drayton Manor Education Drayton Manor is more than just a great day out. We are also a giant physics experiment, a diverse business case study, a rollercoaster resource, and an exciting dinosaur discovery! We are passionate about education and have been committed to offering exciting, interactive sessions for visiting school groups for over 10 years. Our engaging lessons cover a wide range of topics from biology, conservation and physics, to ICT, business and ride design, all in accordance with the National Curriculum. Bringing education to life is a task that teachers’ face daily. An education session at Drayton Manor is the perfect way to inspire and motivate your pupils, enhancing their outdoor education by learning in context. Our detailed business sessions offer an exclusive insight into how we ensure our business is successful and are ideal to support coursework projects. If your topic is all about rollercoasters, we have an exciting array of sessions covering our rides, how they work and the forces that make them so exhilarating. We also offer a wealth of animal sessions, where pupils can discover the fascinating world of dinosaurs, and animals in their natural environment, even meeting a live animal or two! We strive to ensure our education is hands on, with interactive tasks and pupil-led discussions to promote active learning and enjoyment. We are happy to slightly tailor any workshop you book to meet your specific learning goals, and will even create a brand new session just for your school (for a small charge), if it is possible to do so. Education sessions are available all year round, even when the theme park is closed. During this time, we offer our Education Activity Days, which are exclusive experiences based around a topic of your choice, available for up to 3 classes. These action-packed days are a unique experience to remember! In addition to our school’s programme, we offer fun educational activities and experiences for guests visiting the zoo to educate and inspire them about animals and conservation, both locally and globally. Make sure to visit the Discovery Centre during the school holidays and see what events are happening, as well as check out our website for any additional details! Planning Your Visit Group Size When visiting Drayton Manor for an education talk, minimum and maximum numbers for groups will apply. Our classroom can accommodate 36 pupils sat at tables, and up to 55 students in lecture style for a business session. For larger groups, we can sometimes book an alternative room to deliver up to 180 students in the same workshop. However, these conferences rooms have limited availability, so we cannot guarantee that one will be available, or that your session will be delivered in the same way. Staff to pupil ratio For primary and reception school pupils, we suggest that there should be a minimum of 1 staff member per 5 pupils. For secondary/college pupils and groups, we suggest that there should be a minimum of 1 staff member per 10 pupils, but 1 in 5 free staff tickets are given for all. This is our ratio of free staff. Additional staff will be charged – please see the ticket section of the website for details. A staff member must be present in the education session at all times. Policies and procedures The Drayton Manor Education team hold the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge which is the only nationally recognised indicator of good quality educational provision and effective risk management. As a holder of the Badge, schools can be assured that we have passed a robust assessment designed to ensure that we are meeting schools’ learning and risk management needs, so teachers do not need to carry out their own risk assessments regarding the activities provided. However, if you do require to complete your own risk assessment, schools are entitled for free RA tickets each year. Please see details below. We have a health and safety policy statement that is downloadable from our website, as well as a risk assessment completed by the Education Department. The call centre can also provide our Liability of Insurance document if required. If your session includes animal handling, there will be hand wash available, but we advise the pupils to wash their hands thoroughly with soap & water both before and after the workshop. Pre-visits For every booking made, we release up to x2 free tickets (per school per year) for school staff to attend the park prior to their visit, to carry out a risk assessment and plan their day. These tickets can only be used in Staffordshire term time on a week day. If you cannot attend during this time, then x1 free ticket is available for weekends and school holidays – this offer is only available to schools booking an education session, and can only be organised through the Education Department once full payment for your visit has been received. Please let the education officer know upon booking if this is something you require. First Aid and Lost Child Points We do have an on-site first aid team that will be available for the duration of the visit. They are located next to the 4D Cinema which can be pointed out to you on arrival if requested, but we also advise that at least one staff member attending the visit should be emergency first aid qualified and carry their own first aid equipment in case of emergencies. Lost Children will be cared for by Guest Services and any missing children should be reported at this blue building (by the Bounty Pirate Ship) as soon as possible. We have an emergency contact form that we ask you to complete upon arrival which can be collected and handed in at guest services. This is so that if a student requires your attention, or we find one of your children lost, you can be easily contacted on the day. Every Person Matters At Drayton Manor, we want EVERY visitor to be able to enjoy and achieve irrespective of ethnicity, attainment, age, disability, gender, ability or background. We will always work together with class teachers and SENCOs to emplace the necessary measures to ensure that every visitor has a successful and enjoyable experience during our education sessions. We offer a broad and balanced education programme and have high expectations of all our students, tailoring our education sessions to match the school’s learning objectives and pupil learning needs where appropriate to ensure we are as inclusive as possible. Reception and Key Stage 1 Workshops We have a number of workshops designed for younger children. They are interactive and hands-on, with learning points broken up by fun activities and discussions. We do not advise that these workshops are suitable for nursery children, please ask us for more information. Animal Encounter-30 minutes A chance for children to meet and interact with the animals in our Discovery Centre. The education officer will introduce the animals along with some fun facts about them! Children will get to touch some of the animals and handle our biological artefacts which could include leopard fur, hippo teeth, snake skin, ostrich eggs, alligator heads, elephant tusks and much more. Fur, Feathers and Scales – 45 minutes This is an interactive session where children can investigate the appearance of animals, using live animals and a variety of artefacts. We will look at the features of furry animals, feathery animals and scaly animals through hands-on experiences and a selection of group activities. Dinosaur Discovery – 45 minutes In the role of paleontologists, pupils will investigate a range of dinosaurs to discover what they ate, how they moved around, what they looked and felt like, and the fact that they are now extinct. They will then conduct their own fossil dig to find and assemble a 2D dinosaur skeleton. Within this interactive workshop pupils will even meet one living reptile! Primary School Zoo Workshops Children will explore some biological artefacts and live animals to really enhance these subjects! The information below refers to session content for children in Key Stage 2; however, all these sessions are available at Key Stage 1 with a reduced content that can be negotiated with the class teacher. Please contact the Education Officer for more details.