First look at West Midland Safari Park's new £1m education centre
An education centre with animals at its core is near completion.
Staff at West Midland Safari Park are ready to launch their brand new Safari Academy, which will open in May.
Photos show how the facility costing £1 million looks before it edges closer to opening its doors.
The 480-square metre centre, built on stilts, will feature five classrooms and has been designed specifically for visiting schools.
Situated next to the hippo lake, the centre will be decorated with African designs.
The park, in Kidderminster, is also home to accredited animal courses for pupils.
Caroline Richards, head of learning, said: "People don't realise how much more we offer.
"This new state-of-the-art eco-building will allow us to grow our educational services to meet the needs of the local community and inspire even more young conservationists of the future.
"It's been 10 years in the making.
"Building began just Christmas so it's come along fast."
"There will also be outside teaching areas – we don't want to do teaching just in the classroom, we want to do outdoors learning too."
Each classroom, all purpose-built for teaching, will be equipped with everything it needs to provide interactive education for groups of all ages.
Those who can use the new teaching facilities include all ages from pre-schools and nurseries, to university groups and adult learners.
One of the classrooms will be called the Discovery Room.
Groups can take part in a variety of activities to enhance their in-school learning, including curriculum-linked guided tours, hands-on discovery sessions and workshops.
These will include close encounters with some of the park's smaller, friendly animals and a wide range of artefacts, all relevant to the chosen topic.
Caroline added: "We have built a fantastic team of educators over the years, who are dedicated to providing wildlife education to visiting schools and colleges, as well as delivering accredited animal qualifications."
The academy will be home to animal care courses, holiday clubs, career days, open days and clubs for teachers.
Further information and tickets are available from the website www.safariacademy.co.uk or by contacting the learning team on 01299 404888 or email learning@wmsp.co.uk.
