4 on the trot for Fota

Fota Wildlife Park has bagged a fourth consecutive award that recognises high-quality education provision.

The park is one of only three institutions in Ireland to be awarded the Sandford Award, a trusted certification mark for high-quality education acknowledged by educational institutions in Ireland and the UK.

Fota Wildlife Park first won received the accolade, which is awarded every five years, in 2008.

Christine Chadwick, lead assessor for the Sandford Award, heaped praise on Fota and said the park’s education service is distinguished by its expert staff and its extensive collection of exotic and indigenous fauna and flora.

“As well as delivering essential knowledge and skills, the learning experience at Fota Wildlife Park extends far beyond the curriculum,” said Ms Chadwick.

“The staff's passion for conservation and the plight of Ireland's and the world's endangered species is present throughout, with the aim of inspiring pupils and visitors to take action to help protect the environment,” she added.

Ms Chadwick also had much praise for the park’s management and said Fota’s new Education, Conservation and Research Centre has the potential to deliver further improvements to facilities and resources.

Head of Education at Fota Wildlife Park, Lynda McSweeney, said: “Fota’s education programme has gone from strength to strength in relation to the variety of formal educational modules on offer, as well as the continual growth in our attendance figures. Being recognised as a centre of excellence for heritage education in both Ireland and the UK is a welcome accolade and one that we will strive to maintain over the coming years,” she added.

The Sandford Award is an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums, archives, and collections across the UK and Ireland.

Ms McSweeney continued: “We are delighted to be recognised for our education programmes that engage, inform, and inspire visitors and contribute to an understanding of the local and national heritage. The next step, as part of our ten-year strategic plan and to build on the variety of modules and the continuous demand on the educational offering is the opening of the new state of the art Education, Conservation, and Research Centre at Fota soon.”

The new Education, Conservation and Research Centre at Fota Wildlife Park is co-funded by the Office of Public Works and will be open to schools, colleges, and the public soon. See fotawildlife.ie for further information.