Since 2008 we have been one of Kent’s most popular destinations for school visits and since that time we have listened to your input to improve our facilities and services to make this one of the best educational supplements to your classroom learning. Please take a look through these pages to see what we are able to offer you for your next school visit.
Educational Days out in Kent’s Top Wildlife Attraction:
- More species than any other wildlife park or zoo in Kent
- The largest collection of animatronic dinosaurs in Kent
- Key stage 1 & 2 keyword signs
- All our educational talks and workshops are based on the national curriculum
- Classroom-style talks
- Workshops available for a more interactive educational experience
- Talks available for ANY of our species with a keeper, giving us more educational talks than any other venue in the county
- Secure place to leave lunch bags / boxes
- Free risk assessment visit for 2 staff members per visit
- Suggested itineraries for popular topics
- A chance for students to get close to animals
Visits Tailored to your Age Group:
We listened to your comments (after your visit please take the time to fill in the email questionnaire as it does make a difference) and have given the control about what you are taught to you. Please click the right link below to be taken to specific visit information for your age group and take a look at the talk topics below to see which might be of most interest to you and can fit in best to what you are currently teaching. The talks will be tailored to your age group to ensure that your students are only getting the information which is relevant to them.
A visit to the zoo can be very exciting for everyone involved, and we want to make sure that this excitement can be turned in to a thirst for knowledge and a deeper love for nature. To make sure that you get the most out of your visit please read through the tips on the page below:
School Talks:
We currently offer talks to schools in three different formats.
- Talks with our Education team
- Workshops with our Education team
- Talks with our Keepers
Please have a look through all the options below to decide which is the most suitable for your day out with us and let us know if we can help in any other way.
1. Talks with our Education Team
We offer a total of 17 different talk sessions with our knowledgeable education team in the Education Centre which last roughly 20 minutes with an additional 10 minutes for questions. These are suitable for a range of Key Stage 1 up to Key Stage 5 students- so, there’s something for everyone!
These talks take place in a classroom- like setting and mostly include a variety of natural and replica props which students can look at and handle (we do NOT currently offer the handling of any live animals). The topics suitable to each Key Stage can be seen below.
For information about our workshops and/ or zoo keeper-led talks please scroll further down the page.
Key Stage 1
- A bug’s life (Key Stage 1 & 2) – the one about the lives and life-cycles of terrestrial invertebrates.
- African safari (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4)– the one about animals native to Africa.
- Australian species (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about animals native to Australia.
- Cold blooded (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about the lives of reptiles around the world.
- Different teeth for different jobs (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about how different types of teeth work.
- Dinosaurs, fossils and extinctions (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about prehistoric animals.
- Evolution of animals (Key stage 1 & 2) – the one about how modern life came about.
- Forests and their inhabitants (Key Stage 1 & 2) – the one about non tropical forests & their inhabitants.
- Habitats (Key Stage 1, 2 & 3) – the one about the different places animals live.
- Jungles and their inhabitants (Key stage 1 & 2) – the one about tropical rainforests & their inhabitants.
- Life Cycles (Key stage 1, 2 & 3) – The one about different life cycles in nature.
- On the hunt; the circle of life (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about carnivores and the food chain.
Key Stage 2
- A bug’s life (Key Stage 1 & 2) – the one about the lives and life-cycles of terrestrial invertebrates.
- African safari (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4)– the one about animals native to Africa.
- Australian species (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about animals native to Australia.
- Cold blooded (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about the lives of reptiles around the world.
- Different teeth for different jobs (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about how different types of teeth work.
- Dinosaurs, fossils and extinctions (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about prehistoric animals.
- Evolution of animals (Key stage 1 & 2) – the one about how modern life came about.
- Forests and their inhabitants (Key Stage 1 & 2) – the one about non tropical forests & their inhabitants.
- Habitats (Key Stage 1, 2 & 3) – the one about the different places animals live.
- Jungles and their inhabitants (Key stage 1 & 2) – the one about tropical rainforests & their inhabitants.
- Let’s talk about poo, pellets and digestion (Key stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one where we dissect animal waste products.
- Life Cycles (Key stage 1, 2 & 3) – The one about different life cycles in nature.
- On the hunt; the circle of life (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about carnivores and the food chain. inhabitants.
- The role of a zoo (Key Stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one about the important role of zoos in conservation, education and welfare.
Key Stage 3
- African safari (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4)– the one about animals native to Africa.
- Australian species (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about animals native to Australia.
- Cold blooded (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about the lives of reptiles around the world.
- Different teeth for different jobs (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about how different types of teeth work.
- Dinosaurs, fossils and extinctions (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about prehistoric animals.
- Evolution of animals, including us (Key stage 3, 4 & 5) – the one about how modern life came about including for humans.
- Habitats (Key Stage 1, 2 & 3) – the one about the different places animals live.
- Let’s talk about poo, pellets and digestion (Key stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one where we dissect animal waste products.
- Life Cycles (Key stage 1, 2 & 3) – The one about different life cycles in nature.
- On the hunt; the circle of life (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about carnivores and the food chain.
- Rainforest S.O.S (Key stage 3 & 4) – the one about deforestation and the palm oil debate.
- The role of a zoo (Key Stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one about the important role of zoos in conservation, education and welfare.
- Zoo careers (Key stage 3, 4, 5) – the one about the different roles within a zoo and how to get into them.
Key Stage 4
- African safari (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4)– the one about animals native to Africa.
- Australian species (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about animals native to Australia.
- Cold blooded (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about the lives of reptiles around the world.
- Different teeth for different jobs (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about how different types of teeth work.
- Dinosaurs, fossils and extinctions (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about prehistoric animals.
- Evolution of animals, including us (Key stage 3, 4 & 5) – the one about how modern life came about including for humans.
- Let’s talk about poo, pellets and digestion (Key stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one where we dissect animal waste products.
- On the hunt; the circle of life (Key Stage 1, 2, 3 & 4) – the one about carnivores and the food chain.
- Rainforest S.O.S (Key stage 3 & 4) – the one about deforestation and the palm oil debate.
- The role of a zoo (Key Stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one about the important role of zoos in conservation, education and welfare.
- Zoo careers (Key stage 3, 4, 5) – the one about the different roles within a zoo and how to get into them.
Key Stage 5
- Evolution of animals, including us (Key stage 3, 4 & 5) – the one about how modern life came about including for humans.
- Let’s talk about poo, pellets and digestion (Key stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one where we dissect animal waste products.
- The role of a zoo (Key Stage 2, 3, 4 & 5) – the one about the important role of zoos in conservation, education and welfare.
- Zoo careers (Key stage 3, 4, 5) – the one about the different roles within a zoo and how to get into them.
2. Educational Workshops:
Workshops offer an alternative educational experience from our more formal classroom-style talks. These include a more interactive experience for some of our younger visitors and are aimed at EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Our workshops include an introductory informative talk in our Education Centre followed by an activity for the students to take part in.
These workshops may also be a good alternative for SEN visitors, for more information please email us at office@winghamwildlifepark.co.uk
- Animal diets (EYFS, Key stage 1&2) – the one about identifying a species diet from a poo sample! (not real fecal matter used)
- Weird wildlife (EYFS, Key stage 1&2) – the one about unusual adaptations and you create your very own species!
- The role of a zoo (EYFS, Key stage 1&2) – the one about the importance of zoos in conservation and you help us create enrichment for our animals. (ALLERGEN INFO : seeds, fruit and honey may be included)
- Nature on our doorstep (EYFS, Key stage 1&2) – the one where we make a bug hotel!
- Reduce, reuse and recycle (EYFS, Key stage 1&2) – the one about how waste affects the planet and how we can reuse plastic bottles to help species.
The above sessions are booked in on a first come first served basis during the school arrival process on the day of your visit. To ensure that school talks are not interrupted we cannot book these in advance due to unknown variables such as traffic. However, if you want to be able to fit a talk in for your school at a specific time, why not think about booking one of our keeper talks?
3. Keeper Talks
Our keeper talks give you the opportunity to educate your class about ANY one of our animals in more detail and are perfect for learning about specific species and will include information about habitats, threats in the wild, diets and more!
These are done at the animal enclosure so you will actually be looking at the animal as you learn about it. We cannot guarantee that your group will be the only people there but we will make sure to fit you all in and can advise about space prior to booking.
The talk will be 15 minutes long followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers which will be reserved for your group only. Just some of the species you can choose from include:
- Tiger
- Chimpanzee
- Giraffe
- Orangutan
- Wolf
- Flamingo
- Lion
- Penguin
- Lemur (from outside the exhibit)
- Tapir
- Red panda
- Macaw
- Goat
- and many more!
Please note that keeper talks need to be discussed and booked in before filling in your booking form. Please email us using the form below or phone us on 01227 720836 to discuss these talks further.
Itineraries:
If you’re looking for some more ideas about how to make the best out of your day with us or would like to structure your visit around a certain topic, perhaps one of our itinerary ideas would suit your needs?
What Schools Have Said About Us:
We are very proud to have been such a popular school trip venue since we took the park over in 2008 and have made conscious efforts to get teachers involved in making sure that our educational visits are the best they can be. We still have some changes we want to make and will continue to increase the number of educational exhibits available for you, however here are some of the things which teachers have said about us using the post visit questionnaire:
