SCHOOL VISITS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED
If your school would like to pay us a visit then we shall be delighted to see you.
What happens on a booked field trip to Heathfield Ecology Centre?
The children arrive at Heathfield at 10:30 and are met at the bottom of the driveway.
We ask the teachers to divide them into two groups. In doing so the children get more individual attention.
There are two leaders for the day, each doing different activities with the children. There is a morning and afternoon session lasting approximately 1 hour 15 minutes each, with a 45 minute lunch break in between.
After lunch the two groups swap over, so that every child gets to experience every activity.
The day ends at 14:00 allowing teachers enough time to get the children back to school in time for pick-up.
What to bring on a field trip to Heathfield Ecology Centre?
- A packed lunch to have for the lunch break picnic.
- A small bottle of drinking water per person.
What else?
If your visit is during is on a hot sunny day, please ask parents to apply sun block to exposed areas of skin and get the children to wear caps.
Teachers will already be aware of children needing medication and will bring any medication with them.
Booking a visit to the Ecology Centre:
To book a field trip to Heathfield or for further information, please contact our Warden, Lorraine Chatfield on 07919 652 723.
What do the children learn during their trip to Heathfield?
The activities consist of:
Wonderful trees and their importance to man
During this session the children are encouraged to think about why trees are vital to man and we discuss the many everyday items that are made from wood. This session is geared to the age of the children and is delivered in a way that encourages the children think about the trees in their lives. We aim to get them really excited about how precious trees are and why they should look after them. We look at the way trees grow and what factors influence this. The children are then taken on a walk around Heathfield, looking at thee many fine trees that come from all over the world. Older children are introduced to what is happening to our planet and the effects of climate change.
Nests and skulls
This session takes place in our schoolroom. The children are shown a variety of birds’ nests and are encouraged to think about what type of bird made it. They are then introduced to our superb wasps’ nest and learn about the life cycle of wasps and how they make their nest. The children then get to look at some skulls and try to work out what creature they belonged to.
The life of the honey bee
The children go out into our Wildlife Sanctuary and Old Varieties Orchard to investigate the internal workings of a beehive unoccupied! The children then go to watch the activity of the bees to-ing and fro-ing from our real hives.
What lives in a pond?
The children look at what lives in our wildlife ponds and with the aid of our large child friendly identification charts the children are encouraged to look carefully at the creatures and attempt an identification.
Meeting our eco-lawn mowers
The children are introduced to our two sheep, both saved from slaughter and are destined to spend the rest of their natural lives keeping the grass under control in the orchard. They are very friendly and children love them.
A stroll round the Wildlife Sanctuary looking at habitats
The children get to see a stag beetle residence and other habitats for small creatures.