Educational Visits at Mere Sands Wood

Your visit at Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve will be run by Lancashire Wildlife Trust Education Team, a highly skilled and experienced team of environmental education specialists who pride themselves on providing exciting and innovative programmes that inspire children and young people about the natural world. We run Education visits at a variety of sites across the region (Brockholes Nature Reserve, Mere Sands Wood, Bolton ERC, The Hive and Lunt Meadows), as well as outreach sessions, Forest School programmes, Forest School training and outdoor learning CPD training for schools/ groups.

Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve is located in Rufford, in the heart of the Lancashire countryside and is easily accessible from the A59. The reserve has a variety of habitats including woodlands, lakes and meadows, and is a beautiful wildlife haven waiting to be explored.

When booking a school visit led by our Education team, your school will have the use of the Field Studies Centre, which is the indoor space located next to the car park. You will have an enthusiastic and experienced member of the Education team dedicated to your group throughout your visit. Toilets and hand washing facilities are available on site for Education Officer led visits.

Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve has an outdoor classroom (fitted with a seating circle) which is located in The Pines woodland. The reserve has accessible pathways around the site.

At Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve we can take up to groups of 60 children for school visits. 

Mere Sands Wood is a nature reserve with multiple habitats to support a range of learning outcomes. We are able to run Education Officer Led Visits for a wide variety suitable for all age ranges from Early Years Foundation Stage to A-Level and beyond.

We offer a wide range of educational workshops that cater for young people of all ages, including Habitats, Minibeast, Bushcraft/Survival, Plants and much more. The workshops available at Mere Sands Wood are listed further down the page, by age group. 

All our workshops are fully risk assessed and suit and complement the goals of the National Curriculum. 

We offer two types of Education visits at Mere Sands Wood (with different costs):

• Education Officer led visits (full day) with two workshops of your choice

   

• Countryside Stewardship - funded half day visits. We are able to offer a limited number of funded Countryside Stewardship visits for school groups at Mere Sands Wood. This educational visit aims to educate schools about how Lancashire Wildlife Trust uses grazing and traditional farming techniques to help positively manage the habitats at Mere Sands Wood.

For our Education Officer led visits (full day) we run two workshops in a day visit (morning and afternoon), school groups arrive at Mere Sands Wood from 10am and leave around 2pm-2.45pm.

For our Countryside Stewardship - funded half day visits we run one workshop either in the morning (e.g. 10am – 12.15pm/12.30pm) or afternoon (e.g. 12.30pm – 2.45pm/3pm). 

Wherever possible we try to make our activities as inclusive as possible. We are usually able to accommodate accessibility requirements at Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve.

The reserve has an accessible pathways around the site.

If your group has any accessibility requirements, please let us know as soon as possible when booking a school visit.

We have some coach/minibus parking available at Mere Sands Wood.

Most coaches drop off in the car park, however some coach companies prefer to drop off at the end of the drive on Holmeswood Road. 

The cost of all our Education Officer led visits can be found on our how to book page

There are a variety of workshops suitable for children in the Early Years Foundation Stages: 

• Minibeasts
• Environmental Art
• Storybook themed adventure
• Seasons
• Sensory woodland adventure
• Countryside Stewardship

The full list of workshops for all age groups can be seen on our Workshops page.

There are a variety of workshops suitable for Key Stage 1: 

• Habitats
• Minibeasts
• Environmental Art
• Storybook themed adventure
• Seasons
• Sensory woodland adventure
• Bushcraft / Survival
• Maps
• Plants for KS1
• Countryside Stewardship

The full list of workshops for all age groups can be seen on our Workshops page.

There are a variety of workshops suitable for Key Stage 2: 

• Habitats
• Minibeasts
• Countryside Stewardship
• Environmental Art
• Bushcraft / Survival
• Maps
• Nature sustainability
• Plants for KS2
• Sensory woodland adventure

The full list of workshops for all age groups can be seen on our Workshops page.

There are a variety of workshops suitable for Key Stage 3: 

• Ecosystems
• Bushcraft /Survival

The full list of workshops for all age groups can be seen on our Workshops page.

These workshops are suitable for Key Stage 4: 

• Wildlife sampling
• Bushcraft /Survival

The full list of workshops for all age groups can be seen on our Workshops page.

These workshops are suitable for A Level and University: 

• Wildlife sampling

The full list of workshops for all age groups can be seen on our Workshops page.