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The Centre, owned and funded by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, was established in 1973 making excellent use of the old village school, which had closed. The main building is Victorian, built in 1882, and has a small field attatched.
In addition to the old school which has one classroom, six additional rooms have been added, one being a camping hut, three fully equipped classrooms and the fourth a specialised animal room housing live exotic examples of the main taxonomic groups,and two bunked accommodation areas for 20 pupils plus 2 adults in each.
The Centre is situated in the village of Austerfield, near Bawtry, and is adjacent to land owned by Hanson Aggregates who quarry for Bunter Sandstone, a quality building material. During the 50 years of quarrying activity much of the area has regenerated into heathland which, combined with the untouched existing woodlands, offer a superb and safe area to study the natural environment. The village itself was mentioned in the Doomsday Book, so the Centre offers excellent opportunities to discover both the built and natural environment.
Our objective is to give children first hand experience in these environments, such that they may begin to understand and appreciate the inter-relationship of all life, but above all to be encouraged to care about the environment now and to influence decisions about its upkeep in their future. If each one of us can learn to care about our own back yard, then the whole world should be in safer hands.
The majority of children who visit us join us for the day, working with a member of the Centre staff, following the planned PoS agreed beforehand with their teacher. In the Summer months we also offer first class tents or indoor accommodation (all year round) for overnight visits, so that children can spend more time on their studies and also enjoy the social side of being with their friends away from home. All our activities have been designed to cover the relevant aspects of the National Curriculum incorporating Science, Geography and History in the main but as Environmental Education is cross curricular, also covering some aspects of Maths, English, Religious Education, and Physical Education. We have also been known to compose natural symphonies of sounds in the woods.
Annual visitors now exceed the 13,500 mark, coming from Doncaster and the surrounding area.
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