School workshops: Secondary

Gavin Dickson

For educators: Secondary

Bring learning to life outdoors

An outdoor session with Tees Valley Wildlife Trust offers a valuable way to connect students with the natural world while supporting curriculum learning.

Our sessions for secondary schools are hands-on, engaging and designed to build curiosity, confidence and a deeper understanding of the environment.

We deliver activities at Woodhill Meadows in Margrove Park, across our nature reserves, or at your school. Sessions can also be tailored to suit your subject focus or learning objectives.

Key Stage 3: GCSE fieldwork

Give students the opportunity to carry out practical fieldwork, focusing on data collection and sampling techniques in a real-world environment.

Sessions provide high-quality data that can be taken back into the classroom and used to support learning and analysis. Fieldwork can be tailored to suit all major GCSE specifications, with flexible options depending on your course requirements.

It’s a great way for students to apply classroom knowledge in a meaningful context, building confidence and strengthening their understanding of how science works in practice.

All equipment is provided.

Key Stage 3: Science/Biology

This session gives students the opportunity to apply their curriculum based knowledge in the real world by asking scientific questions and carrying out practical, outdoor investigations on one of our nature reserves.

Through hands-on enquiry, students develop their understanding of how science works. Investigations can focus on the following:

Pollution
Classification and diversity
Adaptations
Distribution of organisms
Understanding our environment
Interdependence and adaptations
Biodiversity

Examples of sessions include:

Populations, communities and ecosystems in freshwater ponds

Using survey nets and other techniques, students learn to catch and identify a range of freshwater species. Record the quantities of different species, determine their diets and construct a food chain or food web. Study their adaptations to their environment in terms of feeding, breathing and movement. How do they get their energy and nutrients?

Grassland or woodland surveys

Identify and record a range of species of plants that are present in an area of flower-rich grassland or woodland. Use a range of subjective or objective methods to measure frequency and abundance such as scales and quadrats. Compare and contrast two areas. Why is there a difference and how can you test your hypothesis?

Plant reproduction, pollination and dispersal (weather permitting)

Observe, identify and take measurements of a range of different plant types in terms of their flower structure and how they are pollinated and their seed forms and how they are dispersed. How are the different plant species adapted to their environment?

Rivers and streams

Discover how rivers and streams have shaped the local landscape: consider geology, rainfall, catchment; investigate flow rates, depths, sediments, biodiversity; discuss natural and man-made features which relate to flood control, abstraction and use of water resources. Calculate a biotic index of water quality and pollution.

Working with us

All programmes are delivered by Tees Valley Wildlife Trust Outdoor Learning team and we provide all equipment, risk assessments, work sheets and primary and secondary data to allow pupils to complete a unit.

We can adapt sessions to fit in with your existing work.