Aquarium Education Scales New Heights

As the new school term approaches, the National Marine Aquarium are celebrating a record-breaking academic year and looking forward to another exciting period as building work begins on a brand new Learning Centre.

The Aquarium puts education as its top priority in delivering its charitable objectives and educational visitor numbers have doubled over the last five years. Schools from all over the country have visited the Aquarium but the team place particular emphasis on partnering and working collaboratively with local schools.

Over 28,000 students in the last year, from nursery and reception classes to sixth form, university students and adult learning groups, have taken advantage of the subsidised educational rates and range of programmes linked to the Aquarium exhibits.

In 2011 the Aquarium, working in partnership with the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Local Authority, will launch a brand new educational programme based around a purpose built learning centre. The new learning centre, funded by the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency) and the Wolfson Foundation, will feature a wet lab, science theatre, a TV studio and production suite, a marine resources centre and new seminar rooms.

Construction of the £500,000 Learning Resource Centre is due to start in September 2010.

Head of Science and Learning Paul Cox:

“It’s fantastic that our educational output is highly valued by local teachers and it really is an honour to work with so many schools and seeing record numbers of pupils leaving having learnt so much about the marine environment”

“We try to use the interest in the marine animals as an opportunity to inspire pupils and to teach a wide variety of topics, not only Science but Art, Maths, English and Literacy, Citizenship, even RE and History”

“The new centre will give us the opportunity to broaden our programmes, particularly for secondary students and also allow us to reach out across the country through web-casting and videoconferencing”.

The Aquarium is also working closely with Marine Academy Plymouth and the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership to create a range of new events and activities that put more people locally and across the country in touch with the seas and marine life.

Editors Notes:

• The National Marine Aquarium is the UK’s largest aquarium and when it opened in 1998 it was the first charitable Public Aquarium in the UK.

• To date over 4 million people have visited the aquarium.

• The National Marine Aquarium is a founding member of the Plymouth Marine Science Partnership, an organisation dedicated to advancing marine science and education in Plymouth.

• The South West RDA is investing in the development of low carbon technologies and the marine renewables industry as growth sectors for Plymouth and the wider area, building on Plymouth’s strengths in marine science. Other projects receiving funding from the South West RDA in Plymouth include the Plymouth Science & Innovation Programme, PRIMaRE (the Peninsula Institute for Marine Renewable Energy) and the construction of a new Marine Institute at University of Plymouth.