Opening Times

10am to 4pm (November until the end of February)
10am to 5pm (March until the end of October)
Closed Christmas and New Year

What makes this a great venue for School group Fun or Educational Visits?

Outdoor Venue offering a range of topics and interest for children to discover from a living dessert to a tropical rainforest, anything to do with plants and their habitat

What are the Curriculum Topics or Benefit to the students from a visit?

Unique learning skills can be developed in an area away from the classroom, encouraging a hands on, fun learning experience.

What are the activities?

The groups can be taken on a tour of the garden by the Head Gardener learning about the different plant species. There is also a Plant Science Trail around the gardens that encourages children to discover different species.We have a fun trail marked out around the garden which takes in some key points on the science trail as well as some other interesting places such as the beehive and a tree stump where children can count the age of a tree. The trail is easy to follow and is an ideal activity for helpers and teachers to take the children on if the class is too large to fit in the greenhouses all together. We can provide clipboards and the quiz sheets on arrival. The quiz is varied slightly over the season.
We have several glass cabinets in the glassroom with various scientific specimens on loan from our School or Biological and Medical Sciences and our Geology department. These are quite interesting and are particularly useful if the weather is wet. There are all sorts of interesting exhibits which are useful if the weather is not so good, such as fossils, a weaver bird nest and a selection of corals.

What is the age range of the activities?

Tours are offered to all ages, but are particularly relevant to 7-11 year old children studying plant adaptations.

Sample programme of the activities:

Tours usually look at the different plant habitats in the greenhouse and in the garden. We usually start, depending on age and ability, with a discussion about the 4 main plant parts, roots, stems, leaves, flowers and their role. We can then look at these features and see examples around us and pose certain questions. For example, in the cactus house, why do a lot of the plants have spikes?, why are there not many leaves?, why might there be a lot of bare stony ground?- and so on. We talk about the weather/climate in a desert, the amount of rainfall and high temperatures, there is a large thermometer in the cactus house so children can read that and compare it to a one outside. We take a look at a slice of Aloe vera leaf and look how sticky the juice is, and its awful smell, which makes it unattractive to predators. This prompts a discussion about how some plants can be used like a medicine, what other uses do we have for plants? We talk about plants for food, and what plants need to grow, hence why greenhouses are made of glass ! Do all foods come from plants? - What about milk? - We talk about a simple food chain - sun-grass-cow-milk etc.We then move to the Tropical section next door, looking at plants such as coffee, sugar, banana. We compare the difference in moisture/humidity, light levels, high rain fall. How are the plants different? How is the habitat different? We can look at features such as drip tips, thick 'rubbery' leaves that are waterproof. How can plants get more light? - a look at way to climb, twisting stems, aerial roots, tendrils. Some plants grow on the forest floor, how much light is there here compared to higher up? Look at the soil, its very different from the desert soil, how is soil made? Look at some of the leaves, some are yellow, some are brown, what’s happening to these leaves? What will happen eventually? - Talk about the composting cycle. What holds all the soil together and stops it being washed away in all the rain? If all the big trees were chopped down there would be no shade, could all the plants growing on the forest floor survive in bright sunshine? How fast can these tropical plants grow? Why might they grow faster in here than the desert? We can look at some floating plants in the next section of the greenhouse, and pull one of the stems apart to see the air filled cells. We also, sometimes, have a giant water lily on display, Victoria amazonica. We have several creatures to see to, tarantula, scorpion, cockroaches, salamander and fish, this gives us an opportunity to think about where these creatures live and what they eat. We have a cabinet containing stick insects which can be handled. Occasionally we have butterflies in the greenhouse, these lay their eggs on specific plants and its usually possible to show children the full life cycle, egg, caterpillar, butterfly and chrysalis.On a walk around the garden, possibly doing the quiz trail, there are opportunities to look at different habitats (alpine, woodland, meadow, limestone outcrop, 'bug-hotel', cornfield annuals) and a collection of trees from around the globe. We have a flock of rare breed sheep (Manx Loghtan and Hebridean) which we use to conservation graze, these are quite tame and will come when called. We have a bird hide and a glass observation beehive (late spring to early autumn). All in all a tour of the greenhouses and an exploration of the garden is a great way to begin, or end a study of the wonderful world of plants and habitats

What materials to you provide or suggest groups bring to support the visit?

Writing material to do quizzes and make notes

What are the minimum and maximum group sizes and the free Teacher Ratio?

Maximum group size 25
1 free teacher per 25

Do you have or how do you arrange risk assessment?

We ask that schools provide their own risk assessments and we do provide guidance on how to conduct these on our website. We will also offer a free day pass to organisers wanting to conduct their own risk assessments.

Do you offer Teacher familiarisation days?

Yes, we can arrange for the teacher to have free access to the Gardens and meet with the Head Gardener and discuss the requirements in more detail.

What facilities are there for school groups for food and drink, shop etc?

We ask if children can bring a packed lunch along if their visit goes over lunchtime. There is a "glassroom" that can seat 30.

Is specific clothing required?

This will be dependant on the weather. Waterproof clothing and flat shoes suitable for walking

Do you have first aid on site?

Yes

Are there any restrictions on photos, copyright etc?

no