These sessions are aimed at families who home educate.
Sessions require pre-registration. Unregistered children will not be allowed to participate. Home education classes are designed to build on one another, and you can (if registered) attend all the age-appropriate sessions, or if you prefer, just register for one or two.
Education Sessions for Home Education children
Sessions are free but don’t include zoo entry.
Participants must arrange entry separately by paying standard fees, organising 15 people to qualify for Group rates or using zoo passes (recommended for multiple sessions).
Home Education Christmas Reindeer Educational Experience
To book your place for this exciting Christmas session, please email ed*******@co***********.org with the following details:
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RE: Christmas Reindeer Home Ed as the email subject
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Your full name
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Child’s full name
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Child’s age
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Prefered session date and time
Suitable for 4-8 year olds with accompanying adults.
These sessions have limited places which will be filled on a first come first served basis.
Three session options to choose from:
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FULL – Tuesday 19 Nov 12:00-13:00
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FULL – Tuesday 19 Nov 13:00-14:00
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Wednesday 20 Nov 10:00-11:00
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FULL – Wednesday 20 Nov 13:00-14:00
Take part in an enchanting Christmas educational experience at Colchester Zoo! As a group, you will be welcomed by a merry elf, who requires all the childrens’ help to learn about the fascinating world of reindeer. With a magical trunk, a scroll of tasks, and a trip through a magical Christmas forest you’ll discover some of their amazing winter adaptations. You’ll get the chance to see the herd of young reindeer up close before being joined by Father Christmas. There will be a photo opportunity with Father Christmas, and each child will get a cuddly toy gift to remember this magical and informative adventure.
Due to unique nature of this session and the cuddly toy gift, there is a charge of £4.50 per child attending the session (this includes any younger siblings over 1 year old who are attending).
Children under 1 can attend without this charge, but will not receive a gift. If you wish for them to receive the Cuddly Toy, the £4.50 charge applies.
As with all Colchester Zoo Home Education sessions, this session DOES NOT include entry to the zoo. Participants must arrange entry separately by paying standard fees, organising 15 people to qualify for Group rates or using zoo passes (recommended for multiple sessions).
Home Education Special Reindeer Educational Experience
To book your place for this special educational session, please email ed*******@co***********.org with the following details:
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RE: Special Reindeer Home Ed as the email subject
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Your full name
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Child’s full name
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Child’s age
Suitable for 4-8 year olds with accompanying adults.
This session has limited places which will be filled on a first come first served basis.
This session is available on:
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Thursday 21 Nov 13:00-13:40
Enjoy a special and unique educational experience at Colchester Zoo. As a group, we will learn about the adaptations that help reindeer thrive in their cold, often snowy, habitat. After finding out more about these animals, we will get a chance as a group to see the herd of young reindeer up-close. At the end of the session, each child will receive a cuddly toy reindeer to help them remember this fun and educational experience.
Due to unique nature of this session and the cuddly toy, there is a charge of £4.50 per child attending the session (this includes any younger siblings over 1 year old who are attending).
Children under 1 can attend without this charge, but will not receive a cuddly toy. If you wish for them to receive the Cuddly Toy, the £4.50 charge applies.
As with all Colchester Zoo Home Education sessions, this session DOES NOT include entry to the zoo. Participants must arrange entry separately by paying standard fees, organising 15 people to qualify for Group rates or using zoo passes (recommended for multiple sessions).
2024-2025 Home Education Sessions
5-7 year old sessions take place on:
Monday 12:00-12:45pm OR 1:00-1:45pm; Tuesday 12:00-1:45pm; Wednesday 1:00-1:45pm.
7-11 year old sessions take place on:
Monday 2:00-2:45pm (FULL); Tuesday 1:00-1:45pm OR 2:00-2:45pm (FULL); Wednesday 2:00-2:45pm(FULL).
11-16 year old sessions take place on:
Monday 3:00-4:00pm(FULL); Tuesday 3:00-4:00pm; Wednesday 3:00-4:00pm.
Sessions will run on three days each month (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday), the sessions offered are identical on each day. Each day will have sessions aimed at different age ranges – 5-7 year olds, 7-11 year olds, and 11-16 year olds.
Availability as of 14 Oct
Session Topics 2024-2025
2024-2025 Session Dates
| September | Mon 2nd, Tues 3rd, & Wed 4th 2024 |
| October | Mon 7th, Tues 8th, & Wed 9th 2024 |
| November | Mon 4th, Tues 5th, & Wed 6th 2024 |
| December | Mon 2nd, Tues 3rd, & Wed 4th 2024 |
| January | Mon 6th, Tues 7th, & Wed 8th 2025 |
| February | Mon 3rd, Tues 4th, & Wed 5th 2025 |
| March | Mon 10th, Tues 11th, & Wed 12th 2025 |
| April | Mon 28th, Tues 29th, & Wed 30th 2025 |
| May | Mon 12th, Tues 13th, & Wed 14th 2025 |
Session Registration
Completed forms should be emailed to ed*******@co***********.org
After your booking form has been received by our Education Team, you will be sent an email confirming your registration and the day of the week your are registered for. We will attempt to offer spaces on the First Choice day of the week, followed by the other ranked days.
SEN Sensory Workshops
This new Home Education programme is designed to support the learning of children who have PMLD Educational Needs. These workshops will be based around immersive, sensory, and hands-on learning about a themed animal related topic. Each workshop will use tactile items such as skins, furs, and feathers as well as sensory activities designed to enhance exploration and engagement.
No live animals are used in any workshops.
A full briefing document and What-to-Expect Guide will be sent out the week before each workshop. This will include more details, including visuals to prepare before attending.
Workshops run on Thursdays from 2:00-2:45 pm on the following dates:
| 9th January | Cold Habitats |
| 6th February | Rainforest Habitats |
| 13th March | Hot Habitats |
| 24th April | Zookeeper Sensory Story |
Spaces are limited to 15 children with carers per workshop.
For safegaurding reasons, all participant children must be between 4-16 years old. There are no other age restrictions on these sessions. Please be aware that the activities/learning will sensory-based at a basic level, aimed at children with PMLD Educational Needs working below standard learning milestones.
Session Registration
Pre-registration is required to attend.
Bookings will open at 9am Monday 25th November. Details of how to book will be on this webpage at this time.
Home Education Session Terms & Conditions:
Unexpected Circumstances: Sessions sessions are offered in good faith on the assumption that Colchester Zoo will be open and visitors will be allowed to attend sessions. Please be aware, that due to potential unforeseen circumstances (e.g. government restrictions, severe weather events, etc.) there may be unexpected changes to sessions dates and/or topics. Additionally, due to situations outside of Colchester Zoos’ control, as a last resort, sessions may be cancelled. We will endeavour to avoid this wherever possible, and strive to keep registrants updated if this occurs.
Age to Attend Sessions: The sessions are divided into different age groups because this lets us tailor the session to include terminology and activities which are better suited to different age ranges. However, the ages we provide are just guidelines of where we will be targeting the information/activities, not firm requirements. To ensure the smooth running of the session, and for the benefit of all participants, we request younger/older children do not attend if they would be disruptive to the rest of the group.
Adult Supervision: All children attending sessions must be accompanied by an adult.
Minimum Class Size: Colchester Zoo reserves the right to cancel a class, no less than 4 days prior to the first class of the month, if registration is under five participants. In this event, you will be notified via the email you provided when you registered. You will also be given the option to attend the other date the same session is offered (e.g. if the Monday session is cancelled you would be offered a space in the Wednesday class if you so wish).
Maximum Class Size: Classes have a maximum of 25 participants. If a class is full, you will be put on a waiting list and contacted if there are any cancellations. Being on the wait list does not guarantee you will be able to attend the session.
Unattended Sessions: If you are unable to attend a session, please inform Colchester Zoo via email ( ed*******@co***********.org ) as soon as possible. This will allow them to contact someone on the waiting list to let them attend. If you repeatedly do not attend sessions you are registered for, without letting the zoo know, you may be removed from future sessions.
Please note – Home Education sessions are free of charge. However, Registration for sessions does not include entry to the zoo. Participants must arrange entry to the zoo separately; either paying entrance price, organising themselves independently into a group of 15 (to qualify for group rates), or using zoo passes (gold cards) (see above for further details).
