Reawaken children’s amazing curiosity in nature with Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s education team
Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s (CWT) Education Service provides fun, safe and interactive environmental activities for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), Key Stage One (KS1) and Key Stage Two (KS2) as well as training teachers on INSET days. Our experienced education team works to enhance children’s understanding and awareness of wildlife through enjoyable and positive learning experiences.
Our Aims
We encourage children to engage in their environment and the issues affecting it by:
- increasing understanding of our whole environment
- fostering awareness and feeling for the world we live in
- encouraging a caring attitude towards wildlife and participation in conservation
- creating factual, informal and fun ways to investigate our surroundings
- ensuring that young people's environmental concerns, ideas and opinions are recognised, developed and opportunities are created to act upon them.
Our Education Sites
We offer environmental education sessions at our headquarters in south Cheshire, Bickley Hall Farm, at schools and at some of our nature reserves and other countryside sites around Cheshire, which also include sites in Wirral, Runcorn, Warrington, Tameside, Stockport and Trafford. Wherever you are in Cheshire, we can help your pupils discover wildlife at a site near you.
These sites offer the opportunity to introduce children to a wealth of exciting wildlife and habitats, for example:
CWT’s nature reserves:
Black Firs Wood, Congleton
Carrington Moss, South Manchester
Hatch Mere, Delamere
Knutsford Heath
Marbury Reedbed, Northwich
Moston, Chester
Red Rocks Marsh, Hoylake
Other countryside sites include:
Astbury Mere, Congleton
Fiddler’s Ferry, Warrington
Hilbre Island, West Kirby (The Wirral)
Marbury Country Park, Northwich
Tegg’s Nose Country Park, Macclesfield
The Grange, Mickle Trafford (Nr Chester)
Thurstaston Country Park, The Wirral
Our move to Bickley Hall Farm has created new opportunities for us and we are now able to offer environmental education days at the farm during spring and summer. The 210-acre farm provides children with a fantastic opportunity to experience both wildlife and farm life in a variety of habitats.
Educational visits to Bickley Hall Farm are available May to October.
Our education programmes
Our education programmes are outlined below, and are all linked to the National Curriculum and suit a variety of learning styles. We encourage children to learn by experiencing the natural world through practical activities, art and games. We provide worksheets and all of the materials and equipment required for the visits. You can mix and match sessions to make up a days worth of delivery where possible. Please follow thelinks for more information.
School Wildlife Watch Membership
Sign your school up now for discounts on environmental education visits to Bickley Hall Farm, preferential booking of free education sessions, free attendance for one of your teachers at a CWT run environmental education INSET day, advice on developing your school grounds for wildlife and much more. Full Details of Schools Wildlife Watch Membership.
To find out more about our services, please contact the education team by email or on 01948 822218
Charges
Location
Cost
Bickley Hall Farm
£150
(limited free sessions available)
Countryside site / school
£200 full day
£100 half-day
These prices are for groups of up to 35 children, groups larger than this will incur a £50 additional charge
Health and Safety
Our professional education team will run your programme, but teachers and adult supervisors remain responsible for discipline and should ensure their pupils are adequately supervised at all times, including lunchtime.
We ensure that risks are reduced to a minimum, throw lines are always available during pond dipping, designated first-aiders are on site at all times, and all our staff are CRB passed. Teachers remain responsible for the care of any children who have had accidents.
