Using the Naturegrid Educational Website www.naturegrid.org.uk
This NGfL accredited web site provides a wealth of information and activities for Key Stage 1 and 2 children and also for older age groups. The web site has been funded from a variety of sources including Kent NGfL, National Grid and the Arts Council. Activities address the science, geography, art, ICT and Citizenship curricula, with many of them linked to QCA schemes of work.

Visiting Canterbury Environmental Education Centre
Visited annually by 8,000 school children and adults, the reserve is a touchstone for urban biodiversity, sitting but one mile from Canterbury Cathedral and the Canterbury World Heritage Site. This intriguing nature reserve comprises 30 acres of freshwater lakes, woodland and grassland, yet its beauty and tranquillity belie its proximity to the commercial and residential activity of the surrounding area. The nature reserve is the epitome of how urban biodiversity can thrive with the right kind of human intervention. Schools and other organised groups can book a full or part-day visit.

• Teddy Bear’s Picnic – a full day (or part day) activity considering the basic needs of living things (SWAF) and discovering how to use our senses to discover the world about us.

• The Animals of Broad Oak Woods – full or half day observing animal signs, creating a food web, looking for ‘minibeasts’ and making animal masks.

• Sensing our Environment – half day developing awareness of our senses and using them to observe nature on the nature reserve.

• Teddy Bear’s Picnic – a full day (or part day) activity considering the basic needs of living things (SWAF) and discovering how to use our senses to discover the world about us.

• A Visit to Pond World – a half day discovering the smaller animals of freshwater.

• The Ecology of Pond World – half-day learning about the environmental challenges faced by creatures living in freshwater and how they are adapted.

• Freshwater Food Chain Challenge – half-day nature reserve-based activity in the ‘role’ of a freshwater animal, determining the flow of energy through a wetland food chain.

• Surviving in Broad Oak Woods – half-day trail-based activity involving recording bird activity and detecting animal signs, followed by a search for woodland invertebrates and the creation of a woodland food web story.

• Great Stour River Study and The Water Cycle at Broad Oak Lakes – ideally these 2 half day activities should be combined to give a full day spent considering the relationship between man and elements of the water cycle.

• Exploring through Art – half/full day considering the nature of art and art in nature. Half a day is dedicated to the Sculpture Trail around the reserve, with the remainder of the day spent making natural art works based upon simple shapes around us.

The education centre also offers a range of INSET courses through Kent County Council’s INSET department, or through single-school Environmental Art based staff development courses.

Visitors can come as individuals, families or organised groups. Follow the Sculpture Trail and enjoy discovering some fascinating 3D artworks ranging from natural materials and forms, to industrially inspired pieces made from man-made materials.  Visit our round house and imagine how early settlers in Britain might have lived, or the bird hides to get a glimpse of some of the birds that visit the lakes and woods of the nature reserve. Enjoy a picnic with views across the lake towards the towers of Canterbury Cathedral and meet the world famous Sebastian Swan and his family, click here