Education Centre

Several schools from across the UK visit the park’s education centre. The classroom is the main base for educational activities including presentations and hands-on animal sessions, with activities extending throughout the zoo. Information signs, slideshows and animal keeper talks are designed to convey information on all the animals and threats to their survival. Our Education Officer also makes visits to local schools. Outdoor, hands-on learning has proven benefits for school education. At Flamingo Land this includes animal and conservation components from the national curriculum including the rainforest, habitats, endangered animals and food webs. Education on the conservation of the natural environment is very effective in a zoo setting where children can engage directly with the animals. For animal management students, we also offer more animal-specific topics including conservation, animal nutrition, enclosure design and enrichment.

Hands-On Learning

The education centre has a classroom and many bio-artefacts (animal skins, conch shells, coral, skulls, eggs, feathers, etc.), interactive games and art-and-craft activities for children to get involved in, really bringing the topics to life. Visitors also have the opportunity to join in our daily animal handling sessions. A variety of small animals are available for up-close-and-personal experiences, including snakes, tarantulas, stick insects and giant African land snails. In addition, school groups usually carry out zoo trails within the park. Our trails are a fun way to support the teaching sessions and offer an educational route around the zoo. All visitors to the park can also carry out fun trails through the zoo - look out for the letters placed around the park which spell a mystery word!

Higher Learning

At Flamingo Land we also now provide support for higher learning. Our Director of Conservation Science runs modules for undergraduate, masters and doctoral students in the Environment Department of the University of York. These cover aspects of zoo-based conservation, applied ecology and wildlife survey methods. Occasional presentations are also made to park staff, local schools and various institutions and conferences across the UK and Europe.