Fota Wildlife Park’s education programmes for schools

Fota Wildlife Park announced a record-breaking visitor figure of over 16,500 students who attended the formal education programme during 2018.  The award-winning centre today urged teachers and other education providers to book as soon as possible for the many courses available at the iconic County Cork Zoological Park for the remaining academic year.
 

Lynda McSweeney, Head of Education at Fota Wildlife Park today said: “Year on year we have consistently developed our offering to schools and third level institutions by way of presenting complementary programmes covering both the theoretical and practical requirements of the education syllabus. We have the advantage of not only having a purpose-built education complex, capable of hosting over 350 students a day but also, we are a zoological institution set on parkland and woodland with a range of habitats available for ecological assessment courses. Most years an average of 15,000 students participate in our formal education programmes.”
 

Primary school courses include guided educational tours where the students are not only provided with a guided tour of the Park but are also taken through basic ecological terms such as Feeding Behaviours, Habitats and Threats and can explore the Tropical House and can see many of the 400 plus residents.  Fota Wildlife Park is a Discover Primary Science and Maths approved (DPSM) centre and offers DPSM-registered schools a specially-created day-long option that promotes science, technology, engineering and maths.
 

Secondary school courses include: Practical Ecology Course (5.5hr Module), CSPE Module - Biodiversity Conservation in the 21st Century: (5hr Module), Team-Building Day Out (1st Years/Transition Year Students) (5 hr Module), and the Leaving Certificate Business Module Fota Wildlife Park as a Unique Business.