Coastal Visitors Centre Educational Courses

The education programme is not taking any booking past 1st September 2010 until further notice.

Download a full .pdf of our education programmes For Key Stages 1 to 3

All Ages - Rockpooling Sessions | 2 Hour
For a fun day out with the opportunity to explore the shore and have your picnic lunch on the beach our rockpooling sessions are ideal. Either meet us at the Coastal Centre or we can meet you at a beach close to your school. We will bring nets, buckets and id sheets, all you need is suitable clothes and a packed lunch!

Courses | 3.5 Hour

Year 1 | 2 - Going to the Seaside
(An early years version of this couse is available in the summer term)
This course looks at a variety of coastal landscapes and the words and senses used to describe them. The fieldwork element visits Ventnor beach where the children are encouraged to think of describing words, then go on a treasure hunt where they fill in a tally of the plants, animals and objects found on the beach. After a 30 minute lunch break the children discover the differences between visiting the seaside today and in the Victorian period.

Year 1 | 2 - Plants and Animals (tide dependent)
Plants and Animals looks into the different habitats in the coastal zone. Children are asked to predict what they may find in a rockpool environment and how this is different to what would be found27 May, 2010Before leaving for the fieldwork children learn the Seashore Code and how to be safe at the seaside. Whilst at the rockpools children will work in teams to create a tally of the plants and animals they find and identify. Lunch can be taken on the beach or back at the centre.

Year 3 - Rocks and Soils
The rocks and soils course begins with a discussion on where rocks come from and how they are important to the Earth and to people. Pupils then become scientists to perform an experiment on different rocks to understand their properties and try to discover what they are. This is followed by a short discussion on soils and where they come from with a second experiment on two different soils to try and find out what their origin is. After a 30 minute lunch break pupils are taken on a 1 hour field study walk around the Ventnor Coast to Wheelers Bay, looking at the cliffs and key coastal defences to identify the rocks using the knowledge they have gained.

Year 4 | 5 | 6 - Habitats (tide dependent)
Habitats begins with a discussion about what makes a habitat and what plants and animals need to survive. This moves on to a comparison of different large habitats and the animals that have adapted to the conditions. This is followed by a slide show of rockpool animals and plants with an emphasis on identification and adaptation. Before leaving for the fieldwork children learn the Seashore Code and how to be safe at the seaside. Whilst at the rockpools children will work in teams to create a tally of the plants and animals they find and identify. Lunch can be taken on the beach or back at the centre. Year 5 & 6 includes further work on food chains.

Year 5 | 6 | 7 - Investigating Coasts
The Isle of Wight is a fantastic coastal laboratory for studying coastal processes. This course begins with identifying the coastal zone and it's landforms. This moves through a discussion of how the earth is formed, the rock groups and onto erosion, deposition and longshore drift. Pupils then watch a slide show that re-enforces the learning so far and introduces landslides and coastal defence.

The fieldwork consists of a 3 mile walk from the Coastal Centre to Monks Bay and back along the sea wall looking at the different forms of erosion and discussing how and why parts of the coast are defended. The learning outcomes are re-enforced through the use of worksheets that focus attention on study areas.

Year 8 - Coastal Environments
This course is a more focused and in-depth look at coasts and the processes of erosion, weathering and human activity. It progresses through to an introduction to the principles of coastal management and how the Island's coastline is managed. The fieldwork is focused on three sites along the coast where students gather information, interpret the management options and consider potential conflicting opinions.

Year 10 | 11 - Coastal Processes and Management
This course examines the problems and benefits caused by coastal processes and deposition around the Island, with a discussion of the typical features of these processes. This begins with a discussion about the geology and formation of the Island leading through to the causes of weathering, erosion and landsliding around the Island. From here the principles of Coastal Zone Management are discussed along with the engineering solutions currently in place and the conflicts that can arise for different user groups. The fieldwork involves a walk along the Ventnor coastline stopping at three large coastal schemes where the sites and interpreted and field sketches are gathered.

Year 12 | 13 - Natural Hazards
The Natural Hazards Course focuses on hazards within the local environment, hazard perception and hazard management. The course begins with a presentation explaining the underlying geology and Earth's structure highlighting why an understanding of geomorphology is fundamental to understanding natural hazards. This continues through to the processes that influence natural hazards on the Island focusing on mass movement phenomena. The field walk encompasses many points of geological, ecological and geomorphologic interest in addition to areas of engineering conflict and resolution.

Year 12 | 13 - Coastal Management
This course begins with an explanation of the legislative background to the management of coastal zones. Then there follows a slide talk which gives a background to the Island's coast in terms of it's geology, geomorphology, natural history and human geography. Examples of problems in managing the Island's coast are used to prompt discussions about resolutions and management options. The field walk extends from Ventnor to the Bonchurch Landslip complex along the coast where students are encouraged to make sketches of the different coastal defences, notes regarding the land use and discuss cost-benefit analysis.

All of our courses are designed to stand alone, although they would be better utilsed as part of a module of work. If you have any other ideas for courses that would benefit your group please contact us to arrange a discussion.

Each course can be adapted to suit your individual groups needs.