Who runs the centre?
The Centre is managed by Kent County Council in partnership with the National Grid. It provides teaching facilities for schools throughout Kent with programmes of study from Key Stage 1 to A level.

What facilities are there?
23-acre nature reserve including river, lakes, woodland, grassland and reed bed.
2 Classrooms/laboratory facilities, including easy access toilets, wide range of specialist field study equipment, library and resource centre, video microscopy, interacive whiteboard and Internet links, gift shop and experienced teaching staff.

What teaching programmes are on offer?
Choose from a variety of programmes of study, which have been developed by the Centre. The programmes of study support Science, Geography, Art and P.E. across the National Curriculum.

How do I book a visit?
Initially by telephone - we will reserve days for you and send you a booking form, which you should complete and return to us as soon as possible. Our receipt of the completed booking form is confirmation of your booking. Bookings can be made up to one year in advance. The summer term is particularly popular and should be booked well in advance.

When can I visit?
We are open year round during term time. We offer warm, safe facilities whatever the weather. Many programmes of study are well suited to the autumn and winter as well as the summer terms especially geographical studies e.g. rivers, water cycle work.

How many children can I bring?
The Centre facilities normally cater for two classes per day, a maximum of 70 children in total, although we may be able to arrange for larger groups under some circumstances.

How many adults should I bring?
This depends on the age of the pupils. The minimum staffing ratio requirements are 1 : 6 adults to children (KS1 & 2) and 1 : 15 (KS3 - A level). We do recommend higher staffing ratios than this because most of our activities work best with small groups.

What do I need to bring?
Packed lunch, appropriate footwear/clothing for the weather conditions, ( wellies are only necessary in very wet weather), portable first aid kit and a copy of the pupil register.

What do we provide?
All teaching materials, worksheets, clipboards, pencils and other equipment. Wellies and waterproofs can be borrowed. We have a small kitchen where staff can make hot drinks.

Is there a shop?
We sell postcards, pens, pencils, rulers, badges and books. The suggested maximum amount of money to bring is £3.00 per child.

How do we get there?
We are off Broad Oak Road, opposite HSS Tool Hire, next to the Mercedes garage. There is an electronic barrier and a telephone from where you ring to gain access.