School, skills and visitor centres

Highlights: education and interpretation Q&A

How do you get into schools?

Offer free trips; schools can use as a reward; once they’ve been its easy to get them to come again; provide risk assessments; work with county councils in network of environmental education providers; target schools and find out where the need is; make it fun - the message gets out; make it relevant to what they are studying; area rangers can make links with local schools; secondary schools are challenging – is worth meeting directors of education so that message filters down – and use members to do this; make the offer relevant to the curriculum and useful to the teachers.

What are the opportunities to learn land-based skills?

Link with agricultural colleges and new diplomas to offer (Dartmoor); put on rural practical skills courses as well; modern apprenticeships also on offer; traditional boundary maintenance including business skills course (Northumberland); junior rangers scheme (Broads); millwrights and reed and sedge cutters training (Broads); YMCA schoolleavers with no qualifications – construction and conservation (Broads).

What is the role of visitor centres? Is it changing?

Don’t have a visitor centre in Cairngorms – we just have a park! We want to encourage people to get out there and visit it directly; 8 million visitor days in Dales annually and 700 – 800,000 people through 5 national park centres – they are being used; retail side is a way to fund the way we do things – can also enhance the visitor experience; visitor centres are gateways and remove a barrier because it gives people an introduction and makes them realise they are in a park; socio and economic benefits come from redeveloping centres beyond visitors eg touchscreen to local product guide; centres employ local people.