What I appreciate about nature is how I can feel free
Alex Reynolds is the Education Officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust and works closely with schools and communities within Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. The Trust offers nature-based education in classrooms, school grounds, on our reserves and in local green spaces.
What we do
With years of knowledge and experience behind us, Northumberland Wildlife Trust are perfectly placed to bring nature to life for children, young people and adults alike. Educating the next generation about nature has never been more important and we have lots on offer so there is something for everyone:
Primary and Secondary Education – We build lasting partnerships with schools which enables us to deliver free activities aligned to the curriculum at every key stage and enrich lesson content so pupils can learn about nature with real-world examples. We can visit your school classroom or support outdoor learning in your grounds, or on visits to our nature reserves.
Outdoor leader training
We offer free training for teaching staff to increase confidence taking classes outdoors. We offer a mixture of theory and practical training to help you take the curriculum outdoors or enhance child development. Training can be bespoke to your needs and can take place in school grounds, or on our nature reserves.
I really enjoyed the sessions and I learnt a lot from them - I am looking forward to hopefully running outdoor learning sessions one day
Loan boxes
Schools and community groups can loan out equipment suitable for a class of 30 to use on our reserves or in your school grounds. We have equipment for den building, bug hunting and pond dipping. There is no charge to borrow the equipment, but breakages must be replaced or paid for. You can borrow for a day, a week or whatever you need. Loan boxes must be booked and you can collect from our Gosforth office or we can deliver if we’re able.
Self-led visits
Our reserves are available for use in standard opening hours (some seasonal changes) if you want to bring groups or classes to do your own thing – read about our equipment loan boxes above. Toilets are only available at Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre, Northumberlandia and St Nicholas Park in Gosforth, and there will be a charge if you need to hire our classroom at Hauxley or St Nicholas Park. We want you to get the most out of your visit so please let us know when you plan to come as our Estates team may be using heavy machinery on any given day, and we can help to avoid any clashes.
School holidays - Through the Spring, Summer and Autumn school holidays we offer family-friendly activities at our Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre and Northumberlandia nature reserves, and across local parks and green spaces in the north east. We also offer activities on our St Nicholas Park reserve, aimed at the local Gosforth community. There are changes ahead for Summer 2024 so keep checking our events page for updates.
Get in touch
Our Funders
We are so grateful that our education work is supported by the Green Match Fund through the Big Give.