Bristol Zoo Gardens has been awarded a badge of recognition for its outstanding education provision. The Zoo has been given the Government-developed ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge’. The Quality Badge is awarded to organisations which have pledged to sustain good-quality learning outside the classroom and have met certain criteria. It makes it easier for teaching professionals to organise activities out of the classroom, by helping them to identify organisations which provide good quality learning activities, reducing paperwork and red tape.

www.bristolzoo.org.uk/education

Education sessions take place in themed classrooms in the Zoo’s Conservation Education Centre. Teachers can arrange a free pre-visit of the Zoo’s facilities, after making a provisional booking with the Zoo. For more information, visit the website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk/education. Schools who are not based around Bristol or the surrounding areas can still download some of the useful educational resources on their site.

Where is your favourite place to go on school trips?

Let Nature Feed Your Senses is an England-wide project to provide farm and nature reserve visits for children, older people, people with disabilities, and others who have difficulty visiting the countryside. The visits are supported by the Big Lottery and Natural England and are tailored to suit different ages and abilities.

www.letnaturefeedyoursenses.org

For more information and to get an idea of who has already enjoyed one of our farm visits, visit the website where you will also find all the contact details you need to arrange a visit to a farm near you. Here’s a video report from the BBC which gives more information about the project:

The BBC is running a Thrillseeker campaign throughout 2010, which was established with the aim to encourage children to be active and experience new things outdoors. Kingswood Educational Activity Centres have been working with the BBC on the campaign and have created resources for teachers to use. The worksheets (embedded below) are designed to get children thinking about how being active can affect their lives, educate them on exercise and healthy diets and, crucially, help get them outside and enjoy being active. The worksheets also include helpful suggestions on discussion topics, an educational exercise based quiz and also mini projects to task children with.

You can also find more activities on the BBC’s ThrillSeeker site:

www.bbc.co.uk/thrillseeker

The National Centre for Early Music, a venue for concerts and festivals, also offers a varied musical outreach programme and produces many learning resources designed to widen participation in music. They have free learning resources aimed at key stages 2 to 4 which can be downloaded from their website, covering 17th century music, music and art in Saxon times, and cross-cultural musical fusion between India and renaissance Europe.

www.ncem.co.uk

They also run many projects for young people which have included collaborating with Sing Up!, jazz workshops, widening access to music for young people at risk, special needs projects, and tours bringing world class musicians to work with children in schools. Details of all their projects and resources can be found in the Teaching and Learning section of their site.

Learning outside the classroom is a useful site which is designed to help professionals working with young people to provide high-quality learning experiences outside of the classroom. The creators of the site state that ‘every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.’

www.lotc.org.uk

The LOTC site shares events that you can take part in, examples of good practice and research items. You can also get involved and share your own ideas and information with the site too.

School Providers is a directory for teachers and educational workers in schools, colleges, nurseries and children’s centres allowing them to find the help they need to enhance their curriculum. Examples of their listings include:

• Guest speakers
• Sports coaches
• Drama groups and workshops
• Field trips
• Musicians
• Language workshops
• Sixth form enrichment ideas
• Sports tour operators and activity centres

www.schoolproviders.co.uk

You can search for different providers using the search tools. There is also a ‘Help & Advice‘ section with tips for those thinking who are considering booking a provider for their school.

The Natural History Museum has just launched new learning resources to support school visits to Cocoon, the interactive visitor experience at the heart of the new Darwin Centre. There are pre and post-visit sections introducing students to an activity which they gather information for as they go round the Cocoon experience. They can be used in the classroom or set as homework.

Back at school, students follow up their visit by presenting what they found out to their class. There are separate activities for Key Stages 3 and 4, and for post-16 students.

• KS3 – ‘How do Scientists study Biodiversity at NHM?’ Pupils take on the role of a News reporter, radio show presenter or scientist to communicate what they learn about research This is supported by free booklets for pupils to use whilst in Cocoon.
• KS4 – Careers activity where pupils take on the role of an interviewer or interviewee for a post working as a Scientist at NHM.
• Post-16 – Expedition plan activity where pupils find out more about Leishmaniasis or Malaria in preparation for writing an expedition plan

To access the resources go to www.nhm.ac.uk/a-day-in-the-life. To find out more about visiting the Natural History Museum with school or college students go to http://www.nhm.ac.uk/education.

Travelling to Teach is an exciting summer travel programme aimed specifically at teachers interested in volunteering and teaching abroad. The project is currently looking for dedicated teachers who would like to use the opportunity to volunteer abroad to really change lives teaching English, Maths, Science, Art or Drama.

What’s involved?

The Travelling to Teach programme works with a number of charity/community schools in India, Nepal and Tanzania which provide education to children from some of the poorest backgrounds.

This is a three week long trip which will see selected volunteer teachers visit and work in a school in India, Nepal or Tanzania educating the local children and working with the existing teaching staff. The aim of the volunteering programme is to provide interactive and interesting lessons to the children, bringing amusement to their classes.

Here is a video where teachers share their experiences from previous trips.

Peter Richardson has started a ‘map of outdoor learning experiences’ (also known as MOLE) which teachers can use and contribute to.

The map, created using Google Maps, identifies opportunities for learning outside of the classroom, all of which have been contributed by other teachers. You can also add to the map yourself, sharing places that you have explored with your classes.

Here’s a video which explains a little more about the map:

Find out more on Peter’s blog or click here to view the map so far. This looks like a wonderful resource which is building all the time. Take a look at the map and don’t forget to add new places to it. It only takes a few seconds but the locations you add might give other classes a valuable new learning experience that they might not otherwise have known about.

Gulliver’s Dinosaur and Farm Park is calling upon schools, clubs and individuals to help create a scarecrow spectacle in exchange for free tickets to the attraction.

The Milton Keynes attraction is challenging schools, groups, clubs and individual children to build their own scarecrows, and promises to swap them for free tickets to Dinosaur and Farm Park, which is the perfect venue for a school trip or a group day out. Scarecrows can be created to look like their favourite singers, sports personalities or TV stars, or they can simply be based on a creative homemade design.

The scarecrows will be displayed in a large field in the Farm Park area of the attraction.

Managing director Julie Dalton said: “We’re looking for weird and wonderful scarecrow creations to form part of our big scarecrow display. Anyone can get involved – from school classes to badge groups, and any other kind of organisation keen to take part.

“We’ll exchange every scarecrow for five free tickets to visit the park, and groups can make as many scarecrows as they like.”

The offer for free tickets in exchange for scarecrows will run until the end of July, and groups and individuals can call and book in to claim their five free places, stating that they will be bringing a scarecrow along, on 01925 444888.

At Gulliver’s Farm Park, which is situated next door to Gulliver’s Land theme park in Newlands, Milton Keynes, new animals arrive every season, including cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens, plus furry friends like bunnies, guinea pigs and more in Cuddle Corner. As well as activities like a milking challenge, visitors can plant seeds, dig up vegetables, see crops grow and learn how a real farm works.

Education packs are available to help teachers integrate a visit to the Dinosaur and Farm Park into the teaching syllabus.

Gulliver’s Dinosaur and Farm Park will be open throughout the summer holidays.

For more information, opening dates and times or to book online, visit www.gulliversfun.co.uk or call 01925 444888.