Schools at Saltholme

Here are some numbers for you: 2742, 55 and 2401. No, this isn’t some Da Vinci Code-style puzzle; these numbers tell us just part of the story of schools at Saltholme.

Let us break those numbers down.

• 2742- the number of children visited us from April 1^st 2022 to March 31^st This was our first full year of teaching after the Coronavirus Pandemic.
• 55- the number of schools that visited us from all across Teesside, North Yorkshire, and County Durham. They covered all ages and abilities, from Nursery and Early Years to A Level.
• 2401- The number of children that visited us between April 1st 2023 and the start of the summer holidays. These children came from an incredible 57 schools- 2 more than the entire previous year

All this helps us show you what an incredible opportunity Saltholme provides for school trip. But just what do we do, and what do we offer schools?

Figure 1: Two children using binoculars in one of our hides. 

What do we do on a school trip?

Contrary to what you might think, a trip to Saltholme is not just an excuse for us to take your class bird watching. What we offer is the chance for school and college groups to see their classroom science books come to life. In our sessions, we give children the opportunity to put their classroom learning on topics such as plants, minibeasts, and birds, into practice, and to build the links between what they have learned in class and the real world.

Our sessions Science curriculum for Primary, Secondary, and A Level groups, focussing on:

• Plant & Animal Identification
• Life cycles
• Adaptations and Classification
• Parts of Plants
• and so, so much more!

If we told you everything we offer, then this short blog would turn into a much longer one, so instead here are some handy diagrams to show you.

Figure 2: A table showing how each of our Key Stage 1 sessions links to the National Curriculum.

Figure 3: A table showing how our Key Stage 2 sessions link to the National Curriculum.

As you can see, we do a lot! But it’s not just primary groups we cater for, we also offer Ecological or Geographical Fieldwork sessions for secondary and A Level groups, where students gain experience in using different survey methods to study human impact on a site or the levels of biodiversity. Through undertaking surveys at Saltholme, your students will gain a much deeper understanding of how habitat structure and human activity affects wildlife.

Figure 4: A group of A Level students undertake Random Sampling

How to book a trip

We could go on and on (and on… and on….) but there’s probably more important things you need to be doing, like booking a trip to Saltholme. While the RSPB website is being rebuilt, the easiest way to book a trip is to email our Learning Officer directly at josh.swales@rspb.org.uk.

Visiting Saltholme with your class is one of the best school trips there is, so why not get in touch and see what we can offer your class?

Figure 5: A group of primary age children inspecting thier finds from pond dipping