School Risk Assessment

Students aged 16 or under must be supervised at all times

The health and safety of our visitors is one of our main priorities. To help ensure this, all students must be supervised whilst in the Zoo. Those aged 16 or under must always be with a designated adult from your school. Students aged 17-18 do not need to be with an adult at all times, but school staff must be in the zoo and contactable during the trip.

To enable this, we offer:

One free supervising adult with every five students aged 16 or under (including EYFS)
One free supervising adult with every ten Post-16 & HE students
Free entry for 1-to-1 staff supporting SEND students

Help with your Risk Assessment

ZSL policies follow Zoo Licencing Act and relevant Health and Safety legislation.

We have been following the Government guidance closely regarding the COVID safety measures, and have been updating our Risk Assessments and advice to schools regularly in-line with this.

You are welcome to use our risk assessment guides and other documents to aid you in preparing for your visit:

Please note that these are only guidelines; we encourage you to conduct your own risk assessment. Once you have booked your trip you are entitled to a free preliminary recce visit to the zoo (one teacher per class) to help with this. We can also offer pre-visit consultations with the learning team over the phone or via a video conferencing platform. If you have not already booked these and would like to do so, please email either londonzooearning@zsl.org or whipsnadezooloearning@zsl.org, quoting your 5-digit Order Number.

Last entry to the Zoo is one hour before the Zoo closes, please check opening times for ZSL London Zoo or ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

FOR LONDON ZOO

FOR WHIPSNADE ZOO

2023 ZSL Public Liability Certificate (103.92 KB)
Teacher pre-visit checklist for ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
School Visit Risk Assessment ZSL Whipsnade Zoo 2022 - 2023.pdf (201.43 KB) (201.43 KB)

You may find the following further information useful (particularly if you are assessing your visit through RADAR using the SAGED method):

Staff

All ZSL staff are fully trained to complete their roles in the Zoo. ZSL maintain compliance with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Zoo Licencing Act 1981 and all other health and safety legislation applicable in the countries in which ZSL operates, throughout the year.

Activity

ZSL activities have full risk assessments associated with them. Please view our Public Liability Insurance document on this page for further information.
Boasting a diverse and highly skilled Learning Team, ZSL provide unique learning sessions for all ages and abilities. Linked to the National Curriculum and Exam Board Syllabi, we aim to deliver interactive experiences using resources such as live animals, objects from the natural world and multimedia. Further information on education sessions can be found here:ZSL London Zoo: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/schools/education-sessions.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/education-sessions.
The Learning team also have a wide range of self-guided resources available for you to download which will support your visit to the Zoo
ZSL London Zoo: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/london-online-resources.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/online-resources.

Group

ZSL offers free supervision adult entry in line with Department of Education supervision guidelines for Learning outside the Classroom (One free entry for supervision for every five primary students and one free entry for supervision for every ten secondary students).
Behaviour guidelines for students can be found here:
ZSL London Zoo: Behaviour Guidelines: Schools & Community Groups (216.29 KB)
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo: Education behaviour guidelines for schools at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo (257.58 KB) Education behaviour guidelines for schools at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo (257.58 KB)
ZSL offers free entry for carers of students with SEND - further information on SEND programmes (including Visual Stories) at ZSL can be found here:
ZSL London Zoo: http://www.zsl.org/education/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send-at-zsl-london-zoo.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/schools/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send-at-zsl-whipsnade-zoo.

Environment

Adverse weather is covered in our Risk Assessment (please see above for link)

Distance

The different ways of getting to ZSL London Zoo can be found here: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/visitor-information/directions-to-zsl-london-zoo.
The different ways of getting to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo can be found here: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/visitor-information/directions.

You can also find more information on organising a school visit by downloading a copy of the Department of Education's health & safety advice for schools.