How to improve school party visits

[Goretex]

I thought seeing as there's so much dislike of these I was wondering ig anyone had any ideas of how these could be being improved upon.

I think it should be much more of an educational trip and I would also say that they must be supervised.

I've only gone on one school trip to Colchester Zoo which was when I was in year 7 as a house point class winning trip. They got us filling in sheets here.

Please note that I don't want this to be a complain thread but just a way to make school parties better.

 

[adrian1963]

On Wednesday at Dudley Zoo there were lots of school children around this was for a attraction within the Castle Courtyard and I would like to pass on my thanks for the way the children behaved.
Here is a thought on this topic if zoo's do keeper days why don't they do school days this way a couple of zoo staff could go around the zoo with the parties and instead of the teachers trying to teach the children just let the zoo staff.

 

[Little Lion Man]

One big improvement would be the teachers doing there home work. If the teacher is spouting rubbish the kids do not stand a chance of learning anything. A few I have heard.

In spirit of the Jaguar at Chester a Teacher with a group of primary children.
"These Cheetahs are the fastest animals of Earth!"

"Okapi are baby giraffe."

"Mongooses are meerkats."

Though I have seen some good school trips where the children where given sheets and they had to find the information that was on the display boards in the enclosure. Making the children learn about the animals rather than just viewing them.

 

[Paix]

"Mongooses are meerkats."

More like the other way round!

On my school visit to Chester in Yr6 teachers told me where to go and which animals to see (I did NOT enjoy this seeing they were struggling to read the map and I know the place off by heart) but It was ok and educational. There was a a large emphasis on Evolution and we looked at Primate skeletons and other things. It was ok, but I prefer to see a Spectacled bears, Marmosets, Tapirs and Capybara. Not tigers and Elephants.

 

[karenZOO]

I don't think Colchester zoo could do anymore for school parties, they provide alot of information and learning materials/handouts its really up to the teachers and helpers to encourage the interest of the pupils in the animals and not just see it as a trip out

Learning at Colchester Zoo

 

[Chlidonias]

do the zoos in the UK not have teachers on staff for school visits? Many of the zoos and aquariums over in this part of the world have resident educators funded by the government so the kids get a proper lesson whilst visiting

 

[Javan Rhino]

do the zoos in the UK not have teachers on staff for school visits? Many of the zoos and aquariums over in this part of the world have resident educators funded by the government so the kids get a proper lesson whilst visiting

I don't know if this is the same for all UK zoos, but as for Chester they are a charity and recieve no government funding at all, so they could not really afford 'unnecessary' staff like educators (as in they aren't required for day-to-day running). However, keepers are always happy to answer questions and educate, plus signage is everywhere so you are never far from some juicy information .

As for how to improve them, I think that the zoos should restrict the amount of school visits to no more than one a day. When it gets near the end of the school year they all arrive at once and the massive crowds of screaming, excited children are bad for both the animals and the other visitors.

 

[zoogiraffe]

I don't know if this is the same for all UK zoos, but as for Chester they are a charity and recieve no government funding at all, so they could not really afford 'unnecessary' staff like educators (as in they aren't required for day-to-day running). However, keepers are always happy to answer questions and educate, plus signage is everywhere so you are never far from some juicy information .

As for how to improve them, I think that the zoos should restrict the amount of school visits to no more than one a day. When it gets near the end of the school year they all arrive at once and the massive crowds of screaming, excited children are bad for both the animals and the other visitors.

I`m sure Chester Zoo`s Education Department will love been called unnecessary staff,seeing as one of their main role is looking after and providing help to any school party that requires it,as well as providing the presenters that do the talks within the zoo.Along with this they also do all the work on designing the style of signage within the zoo,and run the zoo`s excellent library and many other jobs that at the moment don`t spring to mind.

 

[Javan Rhino]

I`m sure Chester Zoo`s Education Department will love been called unnecessary staff,seeing as one of their main role is looking after and providing help to any school party that requires it,as well as providing the presenters that do the talks within the zoo.Along with this they also do all the work on designing the style of signage within the zoo,and run the zoo`s excellent library and many other jobs that at the moment don`t spring to mind.

I didn't mean unnecessary in a bad way, notice I put it in inverted commas and explained what I meant in brackets. What I meant was that the zoo doesn't need educators/tour guides to keep it running, so much as they need zookeepers, maintenance workers etc. I hope you see what I mean (and I didn't mean it as offensive, I would love to work in the education department).
Also, I have never seen tour guides going round Chester? I know they have presenters, but that is not what we are talking about anyway. If I refer you back to the post that started this we are talking about educators that actually walk around on guided tours with the kids (or that is what I thought it meant).

 

[zoogiraffe]

I didn't mean unnecessary in a bad way, notice I put it in inverted commas and explained what I meant in brackets. What I meant was that the zoo doesn't need educators/tour guides to keep it running, so much as they need zookeepers, maintenance workers etc. I hope you see what I mean (and I didn't mean it as offensive, I would love to work in the education department).
Also, I have never seen tour guides going round Chester? I know they have presenters, but that is not what we are talking about anyway. If I refer you back to the post that started this we are talking about educators that actually walk around on guided tours with the kids (or that is what I thought it meant).

So which bit of the providing help to school party`s did you not understand,they provide classroom based support and within the zoo for any school that requires it,now the big question is who provides that support well its the presenters that do it at Chester.

 

[Javan Rhino]

So which bit of the providing help to school party`s did you not understand,they provide classroom based support and within the zoo for any school that requires it,now the big question is who provides that support well its the presenters that do it at Chester.

Yeah, I know there are presenters and probably people that go to the different schools, however I thought we were on about tour guides rather than 'static' presenters as Chlidonias sounded as if he were talking about a staff member that actually goes around with the zoo for the whole day, and I have never seen 'tour guides' at Chester, not even advertised (though it may be possible).

Anyway, the main point is that somebody could run an animal collection without tour guides/educators. After all, if you had to make a staff member redundant to save, would you choose the educator or the zookeeper? Educators in zoos are 'luxury' staff, as in a zoo can run without them if they cannot afford them, whereas they could not run without maintenance and zookeepers. I should probaby say 'not essential.' I hope I haven't caused offense

 

[zoogiraffe]

@ Javan Rhino seeing as I don`t know how to make myself any clearer and I know you are missing my point i`m going to give up now to save this thread going down a path it shouldn`t.

 

[Panthera Puss]

I don't know if this is the same for all UK zoos, but as for Chester they are a charity and recieve no government funding at all, so they could not really afford 'unnecessary' staff like educators (as in they aren't required for day-to-day running). However, keepers are always happy to answer questions and educate, plus signage is everywhere so you are never far from some juicy information .

As for how to improve them, I think that the zoos should restrict the amount of school visits to no more than one a day. When it gets near the end of the school year they all arrive at once and the massive crowds of screaming, excited children are bad for both the animals and the other visitors.

All zoos are required to have a demonstrably effective education department under the terms of the European Directive on Zoos & the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice (1999). This is quite rigorously applied and a zoo not coming up to scratch is in danger of failing a zoo inspection. As well as giving tours & talks to schools on-site education departments are involved in huge amounts of research behind the scenes (even in small zoos), setting up and maintaining of in-and ex-situ conservation partnerships (again necessary to most zoos being granted a license), outreach visits, organising of work experience and internships / studentships, zoo signage & interpretation, presentations to the general non-school public, attending and hosting peer group liaisons such as BIAZA meetings, etc, etc.

If this 'unnecessary' work wasn't being done I think most zoos would soon notice!

Rant over, it was a friendly rant though

 

[Javan Rhino]

@ Javan Rhino seeing as I don`t know how to make myself any clearer and I know you are missing my point i`m going to give up now to save this thread going down a path it shouldn`t.

I'm not saying that they are not necessary/good (that was bad wording by me), the presenters at Chester do a brilliant job and I love hearing the talks (I didn't know that they designed their own signs, I always assumed that these were done by the people that designed by independant graphic artists that the zoo would hire). Anyway, I do see your point, and I hope you can forgive me (I didn't know Chester had staff go around with schools on visits). So, here is an end to the little debate .

I think it would be good if there were tour guides at Chester for general zoo visitors (like walkabout wednesdays but more permenant, since wednesdays are hardly the busiest days, they would be better on saturdays and sundays). They could state times that the tours start at the entrance, say 'guided tours start on the hour at the zoo's entrance.' (I don't think they do this, which is incidently what I meant before rather than 'static' presenters).

 

[Javan Rhino]

All zoos are required to have a demonstrably effective education department under the terms of the European Directive on Zoos & the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice (1999). This is quite rigorously applied and a zoo not coming up to scratch is in danger of failing a zoo inspection. As well as giving tours & talks to schools on-site education departments are involved in huge amounts of research behind the scenes (even in small zoos), setting up and maintaining of in-and ex-situ conservation partnerships (again necessary to most zoos being granted a license), outreach visits, organising of work experience and internships / studentships, zoo signage & interpretation, presentations to the general non-school public, attending and hosting peer group liaisons such as BIAZA meetings, etc, etc.

If this 'unnecessary' work wasn't being done I think most zoos would soon notice!

Rant over, it was a friendly rant though

Also, I didn't know education was an actual requirement (though most of these tours, internships, work experiance etc are not available to general zoo-goers unless you can afford to go to uni for some la'de'la degree) , I just thought it was something that zoos aimed for. I always thought that conservation and animal welfare would be more important, hence zookeepers and maintenance would be more important. I don't mean it in a bad way as I have stated (hope I can be forgiven for my ignorance )

 

[Chlidonias]

I don't know if this is the same for all UK zoos, but as for Chester they are a charity and recieve no government funding at all, so they could not really afford 'unnecessary' staff like educators (as in they aren't required for day-to-day running).

Yeah, I know there are presenters and probably people that go to the different schools, however I thought we were on about tour guides rather than 'static' presenters as Chlidonias sounded as if he were talking about a staff member that actually goes around with the zoo for the whole day

the educators at NZ zoos and aquariums are staff members of the facilities concerned, but they are funded by the Ministry Of Education with the LEOTC programme (Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom) - LEOTC home / EOTC - Education Outside The Classroom - so "even" charitable organisations still provide the education services. Education is one of the basic requirements for membership in the regional zoo organisation ARAZPA (or ZAA as it has been rebranded)

 

[Javan Rhino]

the educators at NZ zoos and aquariums are staff members of the facilities concerned, but they are funded by the Ministry Of Education with the LEOTC programme (Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom) - LEOTC home / EOTC - Education Outside The Classroom - so "even" charitable organisations still provide the education services. Education is one of the basic requirements for membership in the regional zoo organisation ARAZPA (or ZAA as it has been rebranded)

Ahh, like I have noted I did not know that. I am deeply sorry if I caused any offense, I just always thought that education was an 'added bonus' (damn zoo tycoon 2 and MyZoo; it is not necessary to have educational things on them and they are supposed to be close-to-real, though I know they are not).

Like I said, I think organized trips that are limited to one school visit per day would be good for the reasons I stated earlier. There are times you can go and you are competing with literally hundreds of school kids for viewing, and there is no forwarning for regular visitors (the website banner could say something like 'on [insert date], a school visit is taking place and therefore the zoo may be very busy and viewing some species may be difficult. We apologise etc....

 

[Chlidonias]

no offence taken from my end. I only brought up the situation in NZ because it sounded from the initial postings that there wasn't a similar system in the UK. Although the educator(s) is/are available in the zoos here, the schools don't need to avail themselves of the opportunity - they can come on their own and let the kids run wild, it happens all the time - but I think in general doing it as an "official" visit garners reduced entry rates for the group.

Restricting school visits to one per day I doubt would be feasible, especially somewhere with a very large surrounding population (like Chester maybe?) because there would be multiple schools in the area and a lot of different classes within each school - there probably wouldn't be enough days in the year for the number of potential visitations.

 

[Javan Rhino]

no offence taken from my end. I only brought up the situation in NZ because it sounded from the initial postings that there wasn't a similar system in the UK. Although the educator(s) is/are available in the zoos here, the schools don't need to avail themselves of the opportunity - they can come on their own and let the kids run wild, it happens all the time - but I think in general doing it as an "official" visit garners reduced entry rates for the group.

Restricting school visits to one per day I doubt would be feasible, especially somewhere with a very large surrounding population (like Chester maybe?) because there would be multiple schools in the area and a lot of different classes within each school - there probably wouldn't be enough days in the year for the number of potential visitations.

That is a good point (and also it is always an end of year treat for them in summer). However I do think there should be a limit somewhere. I went to Chester recently when (and not to my knowledge) the girlguides were all there. There were thousands of screaming kids running around, you couldn't get close to any viewing areas for more popular species and I left the zoo with a splitting headache and a feeling I had wasted £17 (however it did pick up later in the day, and I always know that the money goes to a good cause. Think I was also frustrated because it was so hot, so maybe it wasn't the fault of massive group visits).

 

[Chlidonias]

Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur has group discounts (for Malaysian residents only) for groups of 15, 30, 500, 1000 and 2000 people. Wouldn't you love to be at the zoo when a group of 2000 turned up?