Book a FREE* informative session for your students
Sessions are 45 minutes unless otherwise stated.
Sessions work best with 30 or fewer pupils, but unless otherwise stated, we can accommodate more if necessary.
Our sessions are limited in availability and very popular.
Please book as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you have any questions about these sessions or wish to check availability on a specific date, please contact our education department directly at 01206 332511, 01206 332512 or 01206 331292 or email education@colchesterzoo.org
Available Sessions:
Click on an education session for more details including curriculum links.
Alternatively, our Q & A Session provides your students with the opportunity to ask zoo questions on any topic. This session is ideal for students who are required to gather specific information for completing mock assessment, portfolios, workbooks, etc.
If your pupils are completing customer service/visitor service/visitor opinion or staff surveys while you are at Colchester Zoo, please ensure they are familiar with and comply with our survey guidelines – Business Survey Guidelines
* Colchester Zoo reserves the right to charge a £20 fee for all educational sessions which are booked but not attended either due to last minute cancellation (less than 1 week notice), or not attending on the day without a valid reason. If you attend the session they are free of charge.
Detailed Session Descriptions:
Finance Talk KS4, and Higher
After an introduction to Colchester Zoo’s finance objectives, costs and revenue are examined. A full analysis using graphs, charts, and figures shows the difference in profits on low visitor days compared to high visitor days. The difficulties of a tourist attraction trying to balance those varying visitor numbers while remaining profitable are then explored with reference to strategies used to encourage visitors.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Understand the mission and value of Colchester Zoo
- Understand the financial objectives of Colchester Zoo
- Fixed and variable cost breakdown
- Direct and indirect cost breakdown
- Understand what steps we take to minimise our costs
- Explain the sources of income and how attendance is directly linked to revenue
- Understand the factors affecting attendance and what we do to compensate
- Break-even chart analysis and comparison of high and low visitor days
- Calculations of net profit margins comparing high and low visitor days
- Understand a variety of pricing strategies used, and what the aim of each is
- (KS5+ only) PEST analysis of Colchester Zoo to anticipate future sales
- (KS5+ only) Colchester Zoo’s Economic Impact, both locally and regionally
Human Resources Workshop KS4, and Higher
Please note this session is 90 minutes for a maximum of 40 students.
This session covers the basics of what Colchester Zoo’s human resources department does. Students learn about the cost of staff wages, the recruitment process, job descriptions, personnel specifications, the job interview process, and other jobs of the human resources department. Students then get the chance to complete a mock hiring process. Based on a job description, students develop a personal specification matrix. Using this matrix, students then evaluate a selection of CV’s to decide which candidates match their personal specifications and who they would invite for an interview.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Understand the role and mission of Colchester Zoo
- Describe a variety of job roles at Colchester Zoo and responsibilities of these roles
- Understand the difference between essential and desirable personnel specifications
- Outline the process by which Colchester Zoo recruits new staff
- Describe a typical job interview
- Define the acronyms WASP and STAR in terms of interviews
- Recognize the benefits of a rank matrix when assessing potential candidates
- Develop personnel specifications for a job role
- Analyse CVs to determine the best fit for a specific job
Marketing Talk KS3, KS4, and Higher
Students will learn what marketing is, and how we successfully market products at Colchester Zoo. The talk covers a wide range of topics including: who our target customers are, who our competitors are, various levels of products, SWOT analysis, marketing strategies, product lifecycles, market research, and advertising. For lower level talks, all of these concepts are tied back into the marketing mix terms of price, place, product, and promotion.
Please note that there is considerable overlap between the Zoo as a Business Talk and Marketing Talk. Therefore, only one should be booked for the same group of students.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Understand the role and mission of Colchester Zoo
- Explain why marketing is essential to Colchester Zoo’s mission
- Describe the target audience of Colchester Zoo
- Understand why knowing the target audience is essential to marketing
- Relate Colchester Zoo’s marketing methods to the marketing mix in terms of product, place, price and promotion
- Understand the SWOT analysis of Colchester Zoo
- Define marketing strategies with reference to price and product life cycles
- Understand the importance of market research and the difference between primary and secondary research
- Explain the difficulty of developing advertisements that appeal to all audiences
- Describe advertising methods used by Colchester Zoo
Q & A Session KS3, KS4, and Higher
Please note this session is 45 minutes for a maximum of 50 students.
This session is a bookable timeslot for your students to ask Colchester Zoo staff questions. Zoo staff can answer questions on a wide range of topics including how we use science at Colchester Zoo, how we meet the needs of our customers, health and safety concerns of a zoo, case study examples of our conservation projects, or a focus on any other topic.
This session is ideal for students which are required to gather specific information for completing mock assessment, portfolios, workbooks, etc.
Students attending this session MUST come prepared with a list of question to ask the speaker.
Zoo as a Business Talk KS3, KS4, and Higher
This session is designed to give students an overview of Colchester Zoo as a visitor attraction. It covers a wide range of topics including: running costs, competition, staffing and job roles, our customers, zoo surveys, our products, marketing strategies, and advertising.
Please note that there is considerable overlap between the Zoo as a Business Talk and Marketing Talk. Therefore, only one should be booked for the same group of students.
Click for Prescribe Learning Outcomes KS3, KS4, Post 16
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Understand the role and mission of Colchester Zoo
- Define running costs in terms of what Colchester Zoo spends money on
- Describe job roles and responsibilities across Colchester Zoo’s 12 departments
- Understand the typical customer in terms of distance travelled, customer type, numbers, and seasonal attendance
- Describe methods used by Colchester Zoo to ensure customer satisfaction
- Understand the importance of surveys including: visitor flow analysis, dwell time analysis and animal visibility surveys
- Describe Colchester Zoo’s products
- Define marketing strategies with reference to price and product life cycles
- Describe advertising methods used by Colchester Zoo
