Launching this academic year from September 2023 onwards, we are pleased to offer an exciting range of outreach workshops for primary and secondary schools.  

Add a whole new dimension to the classroom through our curriculum-linked workshops, which are jam-packed with genuine biofacts (skulls, skeletons, furs and skins) and interactive activities.

Individual sessions are designed to be delivered in a classroom environment, for a group of up to 32 learners, and run for approximately 45-50 minutes.

We offer two outreach packages;

  • 👨‍🏫 Half Day Outreach; up to three* sessions for a total price of £125.00.
  • 👩🏽‍🏫 Full Day Outreach; up to five* sessions for a total price of £225.00.

*Please note that a maximum of three different workshops can be booked per package.

Please note that our outreach offer DOES NOT include live animals. This is to help ensure that both our learners and our animals’ needs are met. Instead, we will bring with us a range of biofacts (natural artefacts).

We offer the following outreach sessions. You can select up to 3 different workshops;

🐅 KS1 Wild Worlds

Across our planet is a huge diversity of different animals. In this interactive workshop learners will work together to group and classify the living things we share our world with, while also studying the ‘oddballs’ who blur the lines and break the rules!

🐽 KS1 Super Senses

Animals navigate their way through a variety of different habitats; some dense and full of life, others barren and devoid of noise – but what is it that supports them with this? Join us as we explore the senses that guide us and other animals through day-to-day life, including specialised senses designed to manage even the most uninhabitable environments.

🕵🏽 KS1 Animal Detective for a Day

All sorts of different creatures and critters crawl through a variety of habitats, but how can we tell who has been where? In this interactive workshop, learners will discover some of the ways we can identify, track and trace some of our world’s weirdest animals while also focusing on the different habitats they live in.

🦜KS2 Amazing Adaptations

Have you ever wondered what is behind some of our most successful wild creatures, what makes them so dangerous and so effective at what they do? Combing elements of classification, food chains and adaptations, this workshop will encourage learners to understand why some of their favourite animals look the way they do.

🐞 KS2 Busy Bugs

Beneath our feet is a whole world of critters and crawlies that are vital to the health of the planet, but there’s so much more to these invertebrates than meets the eye. Magnify your focus and explore the crucial role of invertebrates in food chains and healthy habitats.

🌲 KS2 Nature on our Doorstep

Africa, Asia or Antarctica, all of these places are home to a vast diversity of species, but what about the species that live outside our homes? The United Kingdom is home to a unique cohort of species found in wildly varying ecosystems, including wetlands, grasslands and forests. Explore these animals alongside their habitats, how we’re impacting them and ways we can reduce our impact.

💼 KS3/4 Customs & Conservation

Modern laws prohibit a majority of animal hunting and material use, but what happens when these laws fail, how does this impact our animals and how can we help? Using a variety of artefacts seized from various airport customs, learners will explore the harsh reality of the illegal wildlife trade, how it impacts thriving ecosystems and the measures we can take as shepherds of the planet to prevent these practices.

🥗 KS3/4 Thoughts on Food

Humans eat a huge variety of food types every day to fulfil nutrient requirements and remain healthy, but how do animals ensure they are consuming enough matter in order to stay healthy and how are they adapted to do this? Join us as we explore the ways energy and nutrients reach the very top of the food chain, and how diets of animals in the wild differ from their equivalent zoo diet.

🤿 KS3/4 Extreme Evolution

Oxygen tanks, flash lights and helmets – examples of specialist equipment needed to explore the harshest of environments on our planet. Despite difficult conditions, many of these environments are still home to an array of wildlife. Join us as we take a dive into the depths of our planet and peer into the extremes that have resulted in the most unique examples of evolution in the natural world.

We require all education outreach visits to be pre-booked by completing and returning a booking form.  Booking forms can be requested by contacting louise.curtis@dudleyzoo.org.uk . Alternatively please call 01384 215313 to speak to a member of our admin team.

All workshop session plans are embedded with Science and Geography National Curriculum links, as well as core skills within Maths, English and Working Scientifically.  Click here for further information.

📑 Important Information

Outreach bookings are subject to availability.

We are pleased to offer outreach visits to schools within a 10 mile radius of Dudley Zoo and Castle.  Visits to schools outside of this area are subject to approval and may incur an additional charge to cover the additional mileage travelled.

Outreach bookings are only available for school bookings and are only available during school term time.

We no longer run an Outreach service for non-educational settings, therefore we are unable to attend fetes, carnivals, talks or any other external events.

Please note that our outreach offer DOES NOT include live animals. This is to help ensure that both our learners and our animals’ needs are met. Instead, we will bring with us a range of biofacts (natural artefacts).

Following a visit from our Outreach Team, schools who go onto book an on-site education visit to Dudley Zoo and Castle in the 2023/2024 academic year will receive a 20% discount off the on-site visit. This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other offer or promotion.