Winter Workshops & School Trips

During the winter months, there are lots of venues offering indoor educational visits and many providers who will bring their mobile outreach workshops to your school. This can be a great way to introduce a class to a new and interactive way of looking at subjects such as science, drama, history or nature studies. Many local visitor attractions are open all year round and offer indoor options for winter educational school trips. This is also a good time to start planning your annual school tour in spring. Please remember to mention Primary Times when making an enquiry or booking a workshop or school visit.

WEST CORK MODEL RAILWAY VILLAGE in beautiful Clonakilty is a great place for school tours and visits all year round. Explore the interpretative room and play areas, for a fun and educational tour of the scaled models of West Cork towns of old. Hop back in time to 1940’s West Cork with fully scaled models of towns along the railway line, and the people who lived and worked along the line. Local history is brought to life as children can get in around the models and delve into their heritage. 

Let off steam in the indoor and outdoor play areas and take a Choo Choo train tour of Clonakilty - to strike a really nice balance between educational and fun activities. Located within easy distance for most Cork schools, for a tour that is fully planned and self contained for children from 2ndclass up. 

Call Kim on 023 88 33224 for school group booking enquiries and visit online at www.modelvillage.ie 

MICHAEL COLLINS HOUSE is an excellent educational resource in bringing a large period of Irish History to life

and presenting it in an easy to understand and personal manner.  Learn about the fight for Irish independence told through the story of three local patriots, Tadhg an Asna, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa and, of course, Michael Collins.  Discover the events leading up to the 1798 rising and the Battle of Big Cross, learn of ‘Fenianism’ and the push for independence leading up to the 1916 Rising and explore its aftermath, the War of Independence and the Civil War.  Presented through interactive displays, audiovisuals, information boards, historical artefacts and engaging guided tours, Michael Collins House makes the history real and accessible, helping students to gain a better understanding of Irish history.

Teachers/leaders go free and all groups are given a guided tour of the museum, lasting around one hour. Curator and bespoke tours are available for your school group to suit your itinerary.  Curriculum and age-appropriate tours are tailor made for specific age groups and education levels. The house is wheelchair accessible, and there is a gift & bookshop on-site. 

For group rates and enquiries, contact Jamie Murphy at Michael Collins House on 023-8858676, email Jamie.murphy@corkcoco.ie and visit www.michaelcollinshouse.ie

SCHOOL TOUR OFFER! 
WEST CORK MODEL RAILWAY VILLAGE and the MICHAEL COLLINS HOUSE have teamed up to offer primary schools a new joint package offer on your School Tour visit to Clonakilty. For just €7 per student, take a tour of the West Cork Model Railway Village in the morning, enjoy a ride on the Choo Choo train; and then tour the Michael Collins House at Emmet Square, Clonakilty in the afternoon. Please ask for this special rate when making a school groups enquiry and remember to mention Primary Times magazine. 

And now with the Clonakilty Park Adventure Centre open just around the corner as well, school groups will be spoilt for choice on a trip to Clonakilty this year and into 2017!  

CLONAKILTY PARK ADVENTURE CENTRE The Quality Hotel & Leisure Club Clonakilty is the perfect choice for your school trip no matter what the age or ability. Your group will bond and challenge themselves with a wide range of activities while having fun in a safe and supervised environment. Be prepared to swing, climb, jump, scream, laugh, and drop around Cork’s newest thrill seeking attraction! The Clonakilty Park Adventure Centre boasts a two level High Ropes Course, 100m Zip Line, Climbing Walls and Power Fan jump.  It is perfect for all abilities and qualified instructors will endeavour to challenge you in a supportive and safe environment and are always at hand if you need them. 

For younger students, the indoor Playzone with a slide over three levels offers endless fun and you can finish the day off with the latest blockbuster movie in a Three Screen Cinema.  All school tours can be customised to meet requirements and budgets and can also include a selection of food in Lannigan’s Restaurant or refreshments while you watch the movie. For individual and group bookings please call 023 8836400. Visit www.clonadventurecentre.ie or www.qualityclonakiltyhotel.com  and follow on Facebook and Twitter.

The Maxi Zoo Responsible Pet Ownership Road Show is a FREE education programme for primary schools to help educate the next generation on how to be responsible pet owners. The Maxi Zoo team spends about 40 minutes discussing pet care with each group at your school and children get to meet and greet the pets on the day!

Road Shows are suitable for 4 -12 year olds and are adapted with age appropriate information for different classes, so that children learn and have fun at the same time.  The team discuss how to care for pets; talk about animal welfare – how to be kind to animals and never harm them; introduce different animals such as rabbits and reptiles; and teach children how to act safely around dogs. 

Maxi Zoo is Europe’s largest pet retailer and Maxi Zoo Ireland has recently won Pet Store of the Year from Retail Excellence Ireland. They have a fantastic website full of excellent articles on animals www.maxizoo.ie and a fun page on Facebook at FB/maxizooireland 

If you would like to apply for a FREE Maxi Zoo Responsible Pet Ownership visit for your school, please email: administration.team@ie.maxizoo.eu call 021 4208702 or write to: Responsible Pet Ownership Road Show Dept, Unit 7 Westpoint Business Park, Ballincollig, Co. Cork

Booking is essential – contact Julia Walsh on 07 61 06 5254 or email julia.walsh@tipperarycoco.ie

LISMORE MOBILE SCIENCE WORKSHOPS Mobile Science Workshops deliver science directly to your school! Take the hassle and cost from organising a bus to your Science Activity as we come to you! Choose from a range of curriculum based and hands-on topics, from Lismore Heritage Centre - with 20 years experience in the Primary Science Sector.

Choose from Guts of Digestion, Shocking Science, C.S.I. Classroom, Chemistry Kids, Astronaut University and New for 2017 Antarctic Adventures. (A blended Science and Geography workshop exploring weather, heat and cold, states of matter and much more.) With an hour of packed in adventure, your class is sure to have a brrriliant time.)  For juniors to 1^st Class there is a Junior Science Roadshow with an hour of experiments with plenty of interaction and some fizzes, whizzes and bangs to keep little minds wondering and exploring long after the workshop is over. 

For information & bookings, call Alice on 058-54975 or e-mail adonogue@lismoreheritage.ie Also available as a Secondary School Package.

Pupils will discover how animals have been depicted in art from ancient to modern times. Learning strategies include discussion, movement and drawing.  3rd – 6th class groups can benefit from more tailored programs including ‘Time Traveller’ - engaging students with real and replica objects from Bronze, Iron Age and Viking periods. Through examining these, they identify clues relating to use, construction and significance (cost €2 per student).   Outreach workshops are also available, including the inspirational ‘800 Years of Fashion’!  (Cost €3 per student + mileage). Curriculum linked loan boxes supporting student enquiry and discovery in the classroom can also be borrowed for three weeks (cost €20).   

Check out these offerings and more at http://www.huntmuseum.com/Learning/Primary-Schools.aspx  call 061-312833 or email: education@huntmuseum.com

CORK CITY GAOL is an atmospheric jail museum experience offering students a glimpse of life in prisons of the past.  Discover what 19th/early 20th century life was really like in Cork – inside and outside prison walls. Lifelike wax figures, furnished cells, sound effects, and a spectacular audio visual and exhibitions add to this unique experience. Groups can also visit the Radio Museum Experience at the same location in the former Governors house For school group enquiries, please call 021 4305022, email info@corkcitygaol.com or visit www.corkcitygaol.com.