As the year draws to a close, our Education Officer wraps up what has been a very busy year for the team!
Some of our staff with their Sighted Guide certificates.
The start of the year is always a little quiet for education bookings, but a steady stream of out visits to local primary schools and talks to local and not-so-local groups kept us going, alongside our Home Education programme. We had the opportunity to undertake some staff training, with most staff gaining Level 1 Sighted Guide Training from Guide Dogs for the Blind, and all staff completing their First Aid Training by ProTraining.
Susan is a STEM Ambassador, and this gave her the opportunity to reach out to over 500 pupils across the East of England as part of their Science Week activities in March. She helped to judge their “Create-A-Bird” competition, and was impressed by the creative and imaginative ways that the students were inspired by the natural world to create a new type of bird!
Billy Jr also attended the CLOtC conference
Also in March, Susan and Bee attended the Learning Outside the Classroom Conference, hosted by West Midlands Safari Park. The day was full of inspirational talks and workshops relating to LOtC, and offered great networking opportunities with others working in conservation education.
A Royal Visit
April saw Susan, Bee and volunteer Debbie make the trip to Trinity Park for the Suffolk Agricultural Association Suffolk Schools Farm and Country Fair. This year was a bit special, as HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh was visiting the event, and we were honoured to have the opportunity to talk to her about our work.
Once Easter was out of the way, bookings started flooding in for the summer term, not only for in visits but also for events and more talks! Over a 10 day period in June, we had six primary school visits, a local event and a standing room only talk to a local group!
Guided walks continue to be a main element of school visits
At the same time as our peak season for school visits, Susan and Bee were studying online for a Level 3 certificate in Understanding Autism. This will assist with future educational provision as they now have a better understanding of the needs and requirements of individuals with Autism and how we can adapt to support them on a visit.
Our flying display is the highlight of every school visit
Thanks to our new Volunteer Host role, we have been able to attend more local community events to raise awareness about our work and fundraise to support our Raptor Hospital. We attended several events over the summer holidays, including supporting the Family Fun Days run by Suffolk County Council, running free Pellet Detective activities for families. We also supported the Field Studies Council Flatford Mill BioBlitz. Unfortunately, the day was a bit of a wash out and very few visitors made the journey to help record species on the site, but the combined Bat and Owl walk in the evening was well attended (even if we didn’t find any owls!)
A sunny event at Helmingham Hall - not all of our events were so lucky weather wise!
With the arrival of autumn, we hosted our first Careers Event. The day was a success with visitors of all ages having the opportunity to speak to various people from local organisations about their work, and to listen to our staff talk about their own career paths. The take home message was definitely don’t give up, but also don’t be afraid to follow an alternative path, even if it’s just temporary.
Suffolk Wildlife Crime Unit set up a Crime Scene to get people talking
We don’t just work with schools, and this year welcomed Ipswich Guides and most of the Suffolk Squirrels for visits and activities at SOS, as well as visiting Debenham Scouts to share our work.
Suffolk Squirrels took over SOS for the day
We have continued to visit local care homes, giving residents a chance to find out more about our birds, handle some biofacts and share their own stories about owls or birds of prey. We also arranged visits to SOS for two local Stroke groups, who enjoyed seeing our flying display and learning more about their favourite birds.
Towards the end of the year, we had a visit from a group of Vet Nurse students, who were given a special behind the scenes tour of our Raptor Hospital by Dolly, and learnt about training, enrichment and welfare of our captive collection from Izzy. This is something we are passionate about and hope to reach more students, particularly those in the veterinary field, in 2024, to inspire the next generation of conservationists and wildlife vets.
Education Officer Susan says “What a year it’s been! Since starting at SOS in 2020, this year has finally felt a bit more like “normal” times pre-pandemic. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with so many schools and groups this year, including some new ones. The kids have been great, and I love inspiring them about the natural world, and seeing the work they do back at school after they visit! We’ve trialled new Home Ed sessions which proved to be very popular and are exploring how these can be adapted for school groups next year, as well as improving our accessibility and inclusivity of all activities we offer. I couldn’t do it without the team though, including the volunteers, who have stepped in to help with some of our larger group visits and events this year!”
Avian trainer, presenter and rehabilitator Izzy says “It has been a delight helping to educate such a diverse range of students and individuals this year. We have had some wonderful school visits – it is so inspiring to see such enthusiastic and conscientious young people – our scientists of the future, engage with our feathered friends and staff alike. It’s been an absolute joy running some of the enrichment workshops and school tours, not to mention a privilege to educate those who visit the centre as individuals, friends, or families every day. I attended my first care home visit this year, it was wonderful being able to bring props and talk to residents, hopefully bringing stories of our animals to life for those who cannot access the centre in person. “
Bird trainer Jade says “I really enjoyed helping with school visits this year, particularly sharing our birds with groups on guided walks. I also helped to run some of our Minibeast sessions, and it was really encouraging to see the kids getting involved and being brave enough to touch the inverts. They were very enthusiastic and asked lots of questions, which showed that they were taking everything in and keen to learn more!”
Centre Manager Maz says “I would like to say, I think Susan and Bethany have done a wonderful job this year along with the whole team including our wonderful volunteers who we could not do without. It has been lovely to see so many schools and groups visit us. The team have received wonderful feedback and to know our work is making an impact is very rewarding for everyone here at SOS.”
We have plenty of plans for 2024, and welcome any feedback from groups, visitors or followers on social media regarding what we offer educationally, so please do get in touch if you have anything to say.
“The children found the guided walk really interesting. The facts were great and they were pitched at the right level for the children. The meerkat talk had lots of information as well and the children enjoyed spending time looking at them. The food chain activity was practical and engaging which helped the children understand a tricky concept.
Thank you for a very engaging and informative visit.”