New animal welfare workshops available for primary schools
We often learn our love of animals and how to care for them from a young age, so we have designed new classroom workshops to inspire school pupils aged 4-9 years to understand and care about animal welfare.
Our Education and Outreach Manager, Fiona, has been busy visiting local primary schools such as Castle Mead School in Trowbridge, Twerton Infant School and Nursery, St Martin’s Garden Primary School and Combe Down Primary School in Bath, to deliver our animal welfare workshops. Pupils learn about the five essential welfare needs of pets with the aim that future generations have a good understanding of pet care and the responsibilities of pet ownership. We believe that over time this will lead to fewer animals being handed into animal rescue centres for avoidable reasons.
We are keen to hear from other primary schools interested in hosting a workshop for their Key Stage 1 or early Key Stage 2 pupils, where we will cover how to keep pets happy and healthy, how to be safe around dogs and include engaging activities such as memory games and drawing sessions.
Children seem to enjoy getting involved in our What’s in the Box game when they meet our toy dog called, Freddie, and guess what practical items he will need to live a happy and healthy life. The children call out what they think he needs and then look inside the box for items like a lead and collar for exercise, worm treatments for healthcare, a warm bed for sleep, food and water bowls for good nutrition or a brush for grooming.
Teachers say the workshops help the children to empathise with animals and are a useful springboard for extension lessons that further consolidate the children’s learning on caring for animals.
Astral Blanchard, a teacher at Twerton Infant School and Nursery said, “The session was well suited to our Key Stage 1 children with interactive activities to engage the children. It was especially effective to illustrate that the basic needs of an animal are the same as the basic needs of a human and enabled the children to think about appropriate conditions for pets. I would highly recommend these sessions to other school settings.”
The workshops are free for primary schools in Bath and North-East Somerset or west Wiltshire. To request a workshop email reception@bcdh.org.uk