Talks
for Schools, Groups, Clubs and Associations.
In order to promote the idea of conservation we believe that you should start at the beginning. The children of today are the adults of tomorrow and there are too many adults who believe that Birds of Prey will hurt you or that they are dangerous in some way. . . They are not! But if people think this way, Birds of Prey (Raptors) will not stand a chance in the wild as no one will consider the survival of a creature that they fear and dislike. So the idea of our school visits is to get the right message to the pupils as early as possible. Eddie has been visiting schools since 1977 with great success at both Primary & Secondary level.
The visit is all about conservation (not Falconry) Eddie will bring 5 or 6 birds along and some will be flown in the school hall right over the pupils heads. The birds that come along are from the groups: - Eagle, Falcon, Hawk, Owl. Our visits usually only take place between November and Easter and we do not want to be dictated to by the weather, and of course the objective is to get the birds as close as possible to the pupils. The School hall is ideal for this purpose. As of 2010, we are now available to visit schools during April until October, providing the visit is arranged for a Monday. Please note - there is NO contact between birds and pupils at any time during the visit. Unlike other people who visit schools, we do not believe that passing a bird from one pupil to the other in order to take photographs is an ideal way to encourage respect of these creatures, instead it seems to promote the feeling that the birds are in some way 'tame' or silly overgrown 'pets'! This is not the best way to present the birds in front of young impressionable people.
The visits usually last approximately 1½ hours (N.B. While you are thinking to yourself 'Our pupils won't sit for that long'. Eddie has never had to finish a talk early because they were fidgeting - not even with Pre - school children sitting in at 4½ years old!!)
If you would like to see a list of some of the schools we have visited, please click here.
Please click here for the printable booking form.
We also visit groups, clubs and associations, as long as you have an indoor hall or medium to large room, we are happy to come along. We don't need a lot of space. Some small clubs usually like to get together with another club in order to share the costs. This is absolutely fine. The more people you can fit in the hall the better!
COSTS
The cost of a School visit is £150 plus travelling expenses. Travel is calculated exactly (Autoroute 2010) to cover fuel costs - no more - no less. If you are a small group, club or association (less than 40 people), we are usually able to reduce the cost of the visit, please call us on 01892 861175 for further details, or you can write to, or e.mail us. These address's can be found on our home page.
In the past we have visited Schools, Brownie and Scout Groups, Elderly Residential Homes, Private Members CLubs and Associations. We have even given talks to our local 'SERA' Club - South East Raptors Association. Although our talks are concerned with the promotion of conservation of wild Birds of Prey, we are able to tailor make them, so they are suitable for all and any audience.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the visit, don't hesitate to call us, and we will endevour to put your mind at ease.
A note about Badges & Bookmarks
For a long time we were asked by schools if there was anything that the pupils could buy as a reminder of the visit - at the time there wasn't anything but in recent years we have been providing Badges & Bookmarks for the children to buy. This is done after school (where possible) so as not to interfere with the school timetable. The idea is that pupils are dismissed from school and if they would like to buy something they can return to the school hall (maybe with mum or dad) before going home, to make their purchase. Alternatively, if they are paid for in advance, we will leave all of them with you (the school) and you can distribute them.
We understand that this does not suit every school and so it is an option which is addressed on the booking form - please select your preference. If you would like us to bring Badges & Bookmarks along to your school we will of course send you some samples - they are sold as a pair (i.e. 1 badge & 1 Bookmark) for £1
As a Conservation Statement...
We are no longer producing leaflets, too many are discarded, and this means wasted paper - trees are being felled, forests are being destroyed. This in itself can endanger Birds of Prey as well as other wildlife, as it has done in the Phillipines. Deforestation has put one of the worlds most spectacular Eagles in danger (The Phillipine Monkey Eating Eagle). We want to do our bit towards preventing this. Why use paper unnecessarily when there is this fantastic medium (the Internet) at our disposal.
