Description: The Environmental Education Centre started taking Primary School visits in the 1993-94 academic year. The Centre has been very successful in attracting Primary Schools, as it has an excellent reputation in educational circles. This was reflected by the fact that the 1995-96 academic year was the best that the Centre had, though that has been surpassed by the 1996-97 academic year. Throughout the development of the Environmental Education Centre, the PSEPII funding has provided the means by which the educational programmes were devised and delivered, and the ongoing support from PSEPII funds has allowed the expansion of the educational programmes. The 1996-97 academic year saw the development and introduction of new educational programmes for KS2 pupils (8-11 year olds) as well as new programmes for both KS3 (11-14 year olds) and KS4 (14-16 year olds). This was an important move as there was limited room for development without the new programmes. This was due in part to the success of the existing programmes. The Primary Schools visits will always be seasonal, and the centre was working at capacity at these times (Autumn and Summer), indeed the Centre has to turn groups away in June. The problem is in attracting other groups at other times of the year. It is anticipated that the provision of programmes for KS3 and 4 will facilitate the expansion of the business in school visits beyond the peak season. Thankfully this does seem to be the case, as in the 1996-97 academic year, the Centre had the highest number of visiting KS3 pupils to date. In addition, there was a noticeable increase in the number of other user groups including special needs. In time the greater promotion of these new programmes, via visits to schools and consultation with teachers, should bring a greater range of students to the centre in forthcoming years.
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