Nottinghamshire County Council oversees the running of four day centres to provide cross curricular activities in the outdoors to help facilitate the governments Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto.

Each centre is staffed by an experienced teacher who is able to plan and work with visiting groups across a very broad range of programmes and activities linked directly to the schools curriculum.

• Aimed at pupils of all abilities.
• All are Eco Centres and provide activities linked to sustainability issues
• There are a wide variety of teaching resources materials available to allow teachers to make the most of a visit to these excellent centres.
• Nottinghamshire schools' visits are subsidised by the LA with remission of fees for pupils eligible for free school meals.
• All risk assessments/operational procedures meet LA and DCFS guidelines.

Perlethorpe Environmental Education Centre
Head of Day Centres: Gary Richards.
Tel: 01623 822218
E-mail: perlethorpe@nottscc.gov.uk

Perlethorpe is a wonderful place for learning outdoors. Pupils of all ages and abilities will enjoy the broad range of cross-curricular themes and activities available at the Centre. Through literacy activity days or exploring life processes in the woodland, experiencing Victorian life or meeting a personal challenge at orienteering, they'll have the chance to learn about the environment and themselves in real and exciting ways.

The centre is housed in the former village school set in the beautiful countryside surroundings of the Thoresby Estate in the historic 'Dukeries' of North Nottinghamshire. Visiting schools have access to a wide range of habitats; lake, river, farmland, woods, village and parkland. Visits to the church can also be arranged.

• Demonstration wildlife gardens.
• Victorian classroom.
• Adventure playground.
• Woodland log circles and sensory trail.
• Orienteering courses for all.
• Space for 2 class groups.

Brackenhurst College Farm Environmental Education Centre
Centre Teachers: Corby Lewington and Claire Hargraves
Tel: 01636 817059
E-mail: corby.lewington@ntu.ac.uk

The centre is run in partnership with Nottingham Trent University and located on the Brackenhurst campus near Southwell. The site contains access to working mixed farms, animal care and horticultural units, tropical house, an equestrian centre, conservation areas, Victorian kitchen garden, willow pattern garden and formal gardens.

• Learn about food production.
• Discover farm animals at close quarters.
• Experience life as a child in World War 2 Britain.
• Explore green lanes, dumble, hedgerows and ponds   (More changes to follow)
• Orienteering courses.
• Space for up to 2 class groups.

Stoke Bardolph Education Centre
Centre Teacher: Susan Jackson.
Tel: 0115 989 6301
E-mail: stokebardolph.education@severntrent.co.uk

Stoke Bardolph Centre is jointly run by the Environmental Education Support Service and Severn Trent Water. It is based at the sewage treatment works near the River Trent and has access to woodland, ponds and a dairy farm. The Centre is very well-equipped and staffed by a teacher seconded from a local education authority.

• Science and geography National Curriculum themes, QCA units, GCSE, and A level themes
• Video microscope which can be used to demonstrate micro-organisms
• Expertise of Severn Trent staff on site.
• Space for up to 40 pupils.

Bestwood Environmental Education Centre
Centre Teacher: Jackie Adams.
Tel: 0115 927 3674
E-mail: jackie.adams@nottscc.gov.uk

The classroom at Bestwood Country Park is set deep in the woodland, and is an excellent base for discovering a wide range of habitats and sites, including heathland, lake, pond and river sites, Bestwood Village itself and reclaimed colliery land.

National curriculum subjects, QCA units, GCSE and A level themes are brought to life in the outdoors and pupils of all ages and abilities can benefit from the expertise of Country Park Rangers who often work alongside the teacher at the centre.

• Conservation activities.
• 'Forest Schools' activities.
• Celebrate and take part in the Festivals of Christmas, Chinese New Year and Diwali.
• Shelter building.
• Orienteering courses.
• Space for up to 2 class groups.