Huntingdon Cambridgeshire PE28 5RE
Quick Overview - Interested in an exciting and educational school trip that brings science and wildlife to life? Hamerton Zoo Park offers exciting wildlife workshops for all age groups. Teachers can choose between a self-guided day exploring everything the zoo has to offer, or an immersive curriculum-aligned workshop in their dedicated Education Centre Explorers Cabin, where your pupils can meet some small animals up close.
Got specific learning goals? No problem. Their Education Officer is happy to create bespoke sessions for school groups.
The workshops cover topics like animal adaptations, biodiversity, animal senses, and habitat survival. Pack your day with wildlife, conservation, and ecology, exploring different habitats from rainforests to deserts - this school trip gives a fun and informative look at the natural world.Choose from a self-guided day exploring our enclosures, or an engaging curriculum-based workshop, tailored to your key stage, from Nursery to University level. Our Education Department offers a wide range of interactive 30-minute workshops, delivered in our dedicated Explorers Cabin, with an opportunity to meet some small animals.
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What activities are available during educational visits?
Our Education Department offers a wide range of interactive 30-minute workshops, delivered in our dedicated Education Centre. Each workshop is adapted to suit your students' Key Stage and learning objectives:
Night & Day - Learn about nocturnal, diurnal and crepuscular animals and their special adaptations.
Variety of Life - Explore evolution's role in animal diversity, from skeletons to genetics.
Fur, Feathers & Scales - Discover the features that separate mammals, birds and reptiles.
Animal Senses - Investigate how animals use their senses to survive and thrive
Adaptation to Habitat - Explore how animals evolve to suit different environments, focusing on desert species.
Camouflage - Understand how and why animals blend into their surroundings.
Behaviour & Training - Ideal for older students, discussing innate vs. learned behaviours and animal training methods.
Can't see a perfect fit? Our Education Officer is happy to create a bespoke workshop tailored to your curriculum needs - at our standard workshop rates. (Please note: bespoke workshops require 2 weeks' notice and materials remain property of Hamerton Zoo Park.)
Night & Day - Learn about nocturnal, diurnal and crepuscular animals and their special adaptations.
Variety of Life - Explore evolution's role in animal diversity, from skeletons to genetics.
Fur, Feathers & Scales - Discover the features that separate mammals, birds and reptiles.
Animal Senses - Investigate how animals use their senses to survive and thrive
Adaptation to Habitat - Explore how animals evolve to suit different environments, focusing on desert species.
Camouflage - Understand how and why animals blend into their surroundings.
Behaviour & Training - Ideal for older students, discussing innate vs. learned behaviours and animal training methods.
Can't see a perfect fit? Our Education Officer is happy to create a bespoke workshop tailored to your curriculum needs - at our standard workshop rates. (Please note: bespoke workshops require 2 weeks' notice and materials remain property of Hamerton Zoo Park.)
Which curriculum topics do we cater for?
Wildlife
Wildlife Learning at Hamerton Zoo Park
Hamerton Zoo Park provides inspiring opportunities for students to explore Wildlife and Fauna from around the world while developing a deeper understanding of Biodiversity, Ecology, and the natural Environment. Pupils can learn more about a wide range of Living Animals, from Mammals, Bird, Fish, and Invertebrates to Bees, Bugs, and other Natural Creatures, learning how each plays a vital role in healthy ecosystems.
Students can also explore how animals adapt to different Habitats, including Woodland and Rainforest environments. Sessions highlight Adaptation, Predator-prey relationships, and how Climate influences survival in the wild.
As a conservation-focused Zoo, Reserve, and Park, Hamerton Zoo Park helps learners understand the importance of protecting Native species and global ecosystems. Through information about terrestrial animals, pupils gain hands-on insight into conservation, animal care, and how human actions affect Nature.
By bringing students face-to-face with wildlife, Hamerton Zoo Park encourages curiosity, respect for the natural world, and a lasting connection to animals and habitats both local and global.
Biology
Animals including humans Living things and habitats Evolution and inheritance Ecology and environment Life Cycles Minibeasts Habitats Dinosaurs Underwater Animals and Habitats Photosynthesis (KS3/4) Relationships in an ecosystem (KS3/4) Evolution inheritance and variation (KS3/4) Cells and organisation (KS3/4) Skeletal and muscular systems (KS3/4) Inheritance chromosomes DNA and genes (KS3/4)
Inspiring Biology Learning at Hamerton Zoo Park
At Hamerton Zoo Park, our Education Department brings the study of Biology and the Natural World to life through immersive, hands-on learning experiences that connect curriculum topics with real animals. We help students explore the living world from the level of Cells and DNA to entire Ecosystems, making abstract concepts tangible and memorable.
Our tailored school visits and interactive 30-minute workshops encourage pupils to investigate Habitats, Ecosystem dynamics, Food Chains, Bio Diversity/Bio-diversity, and Adaptation by observing how animals and Fauna interact with their environments. Students can also learn how Ecologists study the relationships between organisms and their surroundings, and how Microhabitats and Mini Beasts play vital roles in sustaining healthy ecosystems.
Our workshops also focus on helping students appreciate how behaviours and physical traits are shaped by Adaptation to different conditions. With resources to support learning before, during and after the visit, groups deepen their understanding of Ecosystems and how biodiversity is vital to life on Earth.
Whether discovering the wonders of Bio-diversity, exploring Habitats from forest floors to desert landscapes, or investigating the roles of Cells and DNA in living organisms, Hamerton Zoo Park offers an enriching biology experience that complements classroom learning and inspires the next generation of scientists and conservationists.
Environmental Geography School Trip
Materials and recycling Plastic pollution Extreme Weather Rainforest Sustainable living Global warming Renewable Energy Climate change Conservation Fairtrade Natural Disasters Pollution Flooding
Environmental Geography at Hamerton Zoo Park
Hamerton Zoo Park offers engaging Environmental Geography learning that helps students understand today's Climate Crisis, Climate Change, Global Warming, and the Greenhouse Effect through real-world examples. Pupils explore key issues such as Pollution, Deforestation, Extreme Weather, and the protection of vital ecosystems like the Rainforest.
Sustainability is brought to life on site through practical learning about Recycling, Energy Use, and Renewable Energy. The zoo has its own Solar panels, Wind Turbines, and Biomass Boiler, allowing students to see sustainable systems in action. Our Wind Turbines can be visited, supporting meaningful Fieldwork opportunities and first-hand investigation.
Students also examine Conservation, Environmentalism, Sustainability, Fairtrade, and Climate Activism, including global responses such as COP26. By linking learning to real environmental solutions, Hamerton Zoo Park encourages pupils to think critically about how we can live more Sustainably and protect the planet.
Dinosaurs School Trip
Discover Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life at Hamerton Zoo Park
Step back in time and journey through the age of Dinosaurs at Hamerton Zoo Park - where Palaeontology, Geology, and the prehistoric world come alive! Our dinosaur-themed experiences are designed to ignite curiosity about Prehistoric life and the giants that once ruled Earth.
Young palaeontologists can learn about the three major eras of dinosaur history - Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous - and discover the amazing diversity of these ancient creatures. Students investigate how enormous plant-eating Herbivores like Diplodocus and Stegosaurus coexisted with fearsome predators such as T-Rex/Tyrannosaurus rex, and the horned Triceratops that dominated the Cretaceous landscape.
One of the highlights of our dinosaur learning offer is the KT Express - an immersive train experience that transports learners out of the present and into a time when Dinosaurs walked the planet. As pupils travel on the KT Express, they encounter roaring giants, learn about key dinosaur groups, and engage with interactive storytelling that bridges science and imagination.
Outdoor Learning
What size groups do we cater for?
Group sizes of 15+ are welcome
Each workshop can hold a maximum of 35 students, however multiple can be booked to accommodate your group size
Each workshop can hold a maximum of 35 students, however multiple can be booked to accommodate your group size
On-site classroom facilities?
There is currently no bookable lunchroom at Hamerton Zoo Park. We have a sheltered picnic area where schools often store their lunchboxes and belongings, however this is entirely at the school's risk.
Please note that our covered picnic area is used by many groups throughout the day and you may be sharing the space with other schools. We cannot control exposure that an individual with allergies will have.
Please note that our covered picnic area is used by many groups throughout the day and you may be sharing the space with other schools. We cannot control exposure that an individual with allergies will have.
Is there first aid on site?
We have trained first-aiders on site. Hamerton Zoo Park follows strict health and safety procedures and expects visiting groups to comply with on-site health and safety signage and staff directions.
Access for visitors with disabilities
Hamerton Zoo Park is accessible for wheelchair users and visitors with mobility needs.
All outdoor enclosures are connected by tarmac paths, and our Outback Aviary features ramped walkways for easy access. We have accessible parking spaces reserved near the entrance, and a disabled toilet is available in our main toilet block. While we do not currently offer mobility scooter hire, we strive to make the park as welcoming and accessible as possible for all visitors.
All outdoor enclosures are connected by tarmac paths, and our Outback Aviary features ramped walkways for easy access. We have accessible parking spaces reserved near the entrance, and a disabled toilet is available in our main toilet block. While we do not currently offer mobility scooter hire, we strive to make the park as welcoming and accessible as possible for all visitors.
Who are Hamerton Zoo Park?
Our mission is to provide a sanctuary for rare and unusual animals, where people can gain an insight into the conservation of the World's resources by:
Giving our visitors an interesting and unique experience, at the best possible value
Providing the best possible standards of animal management, using enclosures specifically designed around the needs of our animals
Breeding rare and unusual animals in co-operation with other collections, individuals and organisations, both within the UK and abroad
Educating all visitors, both in our work, and in the wider conservation of animals and the planets resources
Using funds collected from our visitors and supporters to contribute, where possible, to field research and in-situ conservation projects
Encouraging the use of the Parks animal collection as a research resource, on a case by case basis
Promoting care for the wider environment, and where possible leading by example
Achieving carbon-neutral status (or better) by the provision of renewable energy resources, to under-pin the parks commercial and species conservation work, educating and informing our visitors and the public about this in the process.
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