Study areas

1
Welcome to the Environmental Curriculum Service
information CD. Please click on the buttons
below to navigate your way around.
Finding us
Intro
The Centre
Booking
INSET
Activities
Special Needs
Study areas
2
Back
Menu
What can you do at the Environmental Curriculum
Service?
We like to plan sessions specifically for your
class and are always happy to create new
activities with you to support your needs.
Activities at the Centre are designed to
support the Early Learning Goals and National
Curriculum particularly in the areas of Science,
Geography, Physical Education, I.T and Art and
more generally English and Maths. Most
activities are half day sessions, some are led by
centre staff (supported) and some are introduced
by centre staff but led by the class teacher
(unsupported). This needs to be taken into
account when choosing activities. The sections
below shows examples of popular activities that
we do.
Key stage 1 activities
Key stage 2 activities
Foundation stage activities
Key stage 3/4 A level activities
3
Menu
Back
Foundation Stage
Supported (Led by Centre staff)
Unsupported (Led by class teacher)
Sensory walk
Animal homes
Habitat exploration
Colour palettes
Bear hunt
Seasonal change adventure
Minibeast sculptures
Plant art
Themed scavenger hunts
4
Menu
Back
Key Stage 1
Unsupported (Led by class teacher)
Supported (Led by Centre staff)
A living adventure
Habitat exploration
Minibeast adventure
Minibeast sculptures
Plant discovery walk
Texture scavenger
Paper making
Colour Palettes
Orienteering Beginners
Sensory walk
Themed scavenger hunts
Plant life cycles
Team challenge
5
Menu
Back
Key Stage 2
Unsupported (Led by class teacher)
Supported (Led by Centre staff)
Route Orienteering Intermediates
Route Orienteering Advanced
Soil painting
Habitat comparison
Plant art
Munchline monitors
Minibeast classification
Habitat exploration
Poetry
Plant survival walk
Habitat exploration
Local history study
Themed Scavenger hunt
Minibeast sculptures
Plant life cycles
Micro- climates
Plant adaptations
Team challenges
Paper making
River study
A tree adventure
Twig identification
Who committed the crime?
Village study
Local environmental survey
Micro- climates Moving pod the pigs habitat
Colour Palettes
6
Menu
Back
Key Stage 3/4 A level
If there is anything that you think you would
like to do here at the Centre then we are happy
to develop a programme to suit your needs. The
following programmes are already available please
click on the buttons below to find out more.
Biology summer school A level week
Geography A Level soils day
2 Day A level Biology fieldwork techniques
GNVQ Childhood studies Using the outdoors with
young children
Environmental studies A level fieldwork
techniques
1st Aid training for young people
7
Menu
Back
Study areas
Organic vegetable garden
Evergreen woodland
Butterfly bee garden
Pond streams
Deciduous woodland
Three Greenhouses
The Growing Schools Garden
Orchard
Click here to meet our farm animals
8
Menu
Back
Meet the farm animals
The geese
The chickens
Lucie the goat
Pod the pig
Jumper the sheep
The ducks
9
Menu
Back
Introduction
What is the ECS? We are a 9 acre wildlife site
located in Eltham, South East London. Our main
purpose is to provide a day visit service to
Greenwich schools. We also welcome visits from
schools from outside the borough. Approximately
10,000 pupils and adults visit the centre every
year.
How do we support learning? Activities at the
centre promote environmental and outdoor
education generally, but specifically support the
National Curriculum for Science, Geography,
Physical Education and Art. The visit also acts
as a stimulus for numeracy and literacy. We
cover all levels of attainment from the
foundation stage, key stage 1-4 and
A-level. All activities are planned in advance
with the class teacher and can be tailor made to
fit the requirements of the curriculum and the
needs of the pupils.
Click here for Our Aims
10
Menu
Back
The Centre
Main Building The centres main building has 3
fully equipped classrooms that are set up for a
wide range of curricular activities. They are
well resourced and organised so that each pupil
has their own equipment. Field study equipment,
computers and data loggers are also available.
Outdoors environment The building is surrounded
by a 9 acre wildlife site containing a variety of
exciting outdoor education resources. These
include ponds and streams, wildflower meadows,
farm animals, an orchard, an organic vegetable
garden, the DfES Growing schools garden,
evergreen and deciduous woodland and hedgerows, a
recycling centre, composting areas and
greenhouses. There is also a large picnic area
and outdoor adventure play equipment.
11
Menu
Back
Our aims

• To provide a fun, enjoyable, exciting and
  adventurous learning experience outside.
• To enable all visiting children to experience a
  practical, hands-on approach to each activity in
  a safe environment.
• To encourage a love for and respect of, the
  natural environment.
• To explore how we play a role in sustaining the
  natural environment around us.
• To encourage a cross curricular approach to
  environmental education
• To provide an opportunity for the social and
  personal development of visiting children and
  adults.

12
Menu
Back
INSET
At ECS we provide both INSET and Initial Teacher
Training
Initial Teacher Training
INSET
Free Introduction to ECS
Outdoor adventurous activities
Whole staff away days
Using school grounds creatively for science
Growing schools garden training workshop
First aid
Creativity in the environment
13
Menu
Back
INSET Introduction to ECS
If you would like to know more about what we do
at the Centre or for those of you that have
already visited the centre and would like others
in your school to know about it, why not bring
everyone down here for a stroll around and a cup
of tea whilst we explain how the Centre works and
how you might use it as a school.
14
Menu
Back
INSET Whole Staff Away Days
An opportunity for you to work together as a
staff team in a different and inspiring
environment. Use the Centre facilities to run
your own programme, or we can develop a whole day
or twilight programme for you.
15
Menu
Back
INSET First Aid

• We provide First Aid training specifically
  designed for people who work outdoors with young
  people and adults. The courses are very
  hands-on and many practical activities take
  place outside.
• All courses are recognised by the Health and
  Safety Executive and run by REC (Rescue Emergency
  Care).
• Courses that we do
• 1 day emergency First Aid
• 2 day First Aid Requalification course
• 4 day First Aid at Work Qualification
• In addition, we also run one day courses for
  small groups of young people leading to a Young
  Lifesavers Qualification.

16
Menu
Back
INSET Creativity in the
Environment
We aim to inspire you to be creative outdoors
with a day here at the ECS. Using the
inspiration of the Centres nine acre wildlife
site, we work with your staff using a
cross-curricular approach at all key stages to
introduce a variety of practical outdoor
activities that are fun and creative and easily
transferable to your own school grounds.
17
Menu
Back
Initial Teacher Training Outdoor adventurous
activities
This fun three-hour practical course aims to
introduce students to the PE National Curriculum
section on outdoor and adventurous activity.
Students are given the opportunity to work
together and take part in a variety of simple
team challenges and orienteering courses. They
will also find out how to teach the relevant
skills and knowledge needed for orienteering
across the Key Stages, and how this can be done
cheaply and effectively both in and outside the
classroom without leaving the school.
18
Menu
Back
Initial teacher training Using
school grounds creatively for science
This hands-on session is designed to give
students the confidence and skills to explore
their own outdoor space as a cross-curricular
resource particularly with science. Students
will have the opportunity to learn about the
organisation, equipment, and methods involved for
collecting and caring for the living things that
they might find in a variety of habitats in and
around their own school and how this ties in to
the curriculum. Issues such as Health and
Safety, risk assessments supervision ratios and
class organisation will also be covered.
19
Menu
Back
Finding us
Environmental Curriculum Service 77 Bexley Road
Eltham London
SE92PE Phone [phone]
20
Menu
Back
Booking
If you are interested in visiting the Centre
please contact us directly to check availability
and prices. Our booking process usually begins
in the Spring Term. Schools, who have visited
the Centre before, are invited to state when they
prefer to bring classes throughout the
forthcoming academic year. Bookings are then
allocated and confirmed in writing. The ECS
maintains contact with a named person at each
school usually the Science Co-ordinator. School
s will be contacted again shortly before their
visit inviting the class teacher to arrange a
preliminary planning visit to discuss their
programme of activities, safety issues, and other
organisational arrangements.
What about transport?
21
Menu
Back
Transport
Schools visiting the ECS are able to book coaches
from Greenwich Transport Services at preferential
rates. Coaches should be booked as soon as you
receive confirmation of your visit(s). The
cost of your transportation will be added to your
invoice from the ECS following your visit.
22
Menu
Back
Visits for Special Needs groups
The ECS welcomes visits from special needs
groups. Our site and activities offer children
and adults with special needs an ideal
opportunity to experience the environment through
hands-on, practical outdoor activities such as
papermaking, orienteering and team challenges.
We offer a staggered pricing structure to
smaller special needs groups who wish to make
all-day visits, or alternatively, special needs
groups can visit our grounds for half-day visits
throughout the year at a grounds only
rate. Our site has disabled toilet, showering
and changing facilities. Most areas are
wheelchair accessible, although some areas of our
site are unsuitable for wheelchair users. For
further information please contact the centre
administrator.
23
Menu
Back
INSET Growing Schools Garden
Training
ECS is home to the Growing schools garden, the
award winning school demonstration garden and
training facilities Throughout the year we run a
programme of training workshops in the Growing
Schools Garden. These handson sessions
are designed to inspire, inform and support
schools that wish to use their school grounds
more effectively. They are aimed at any adult
hoping to work with pupils and young
people both during and outside the
school day. For a list of courses available
contact the
Growing
Schools Garden Manager on 0208 294 5864 or

e-mail on growingschoolsgarden_at_widehori
zons.org.uk. Further information about the
Growing Schools Garden

can be found on the Growing Schools website
www.teachernet.gov.uk/
growingschools
24
Menu
Back
25
Menu
Back
26
Menu
Back
27
Menu
Back
28
Menu
Back
29
Menu
Back
30
Menu
Back
31
Menu
Back
32
Menu
Back
33
Menu
Back
34
Menu
Back
35
Menu
Back
36
Menu
Back
37
Menu
Back
38
Menu
Back
39
Menu
Back
40
Menu
Back
41
Menu
Back
42
Menu
Back
43
Menu
Back
44
Menu
Back
45
Menu
Back
46
Menu
Back
47
Menu
Back
48
Menu
Back
49
Menu
Back
50
Menu
Back
51
Menu
Back
52
Menu
Back
53
Menu
Back
54
Menu
Back
55
Menu
Back
56
Menu
Back
57
Menu
Back
58
Menu
Back
59
Menu
Back
60
Menu
Back
61
Menu
Back
62
Menu
Back
63
Menu
Back
64
Menu
Back
65
Menu
Back
66
Menu
Back
67
Menu
Back
68
Menu
Back
69
Menu
Back
70
Menu
Back
71
Menu
Back
72
Menu
Back
73
Menu
Back
74
Menu
Back
75
Menu
Back
76
Menu
Back
77
Menu
Back
78
Menu
Back