Since being taken over by
award-winning Bedford College, Shuttleworth College in Central
Bedfordshire is enjoying the national limelight. While Bedford
College is already famed for its educational expertise,
Shuttleworth has been quietly getting on with the job. Now the two
are working together to improve opportunities and experiences for
students, and now courses from agriculture and art to zoology
are available under the Bedford College banner.
New to Bedford College is the area of
animal care and leading the way is Carl
Groombridge, Manager of the Animal Care Centre at Shuttleworth
College, who has an infectious enthusiasm about animal welfare,
habitats and breeding programmes.
The Animal Care Centre is
home to just about every family of species in the world and
habitats include a tropical rainforest setting where the sounds of
the forest give an added dimension to the environment.
Students come here to learn
about animal husbandry, how to create and build habitats from
scratch to meet wildlife standards and develop breeding programmes.
The aim is to give students a taste of all aspects of animal
welfare and management in preparation for careers from practical
hands-on jobs to highly academic research and scientific
opportunities.
Carl explained: “We offer
students the chance to develop their practical skills whilst
working in a stimulating environment. We have a wide range of
exotic species from amphibians, invertebrates, small mammals and
reptiles, to birds and larger animals.”
“The Animal Care Centre is
rich with species and this is something that Ofsted recently
commented on.”
“Our links with the
zoological industry give our students an added advantage and they
are encouraged to design and build habitats for animals that
include the unusual and exotic so that their knowledge and skills
are stretched.”
“Practical learners benefit
a great deal from hands on experience of caring for animals and we
are pleased to welcome all students on visits during school years
10 and 11.”
“From the moment students
arrive to study at the Animal Care Centre they are on a learning
curve that can open up opportunities to them in the animal world,
some of which they would never have thought possible.”
Students working with
lizards recently saw the full circle of the breeding programme,
from incubation of eggs to the thrill of seeing them hatch. They
work with animals including Chilean bird eating spiders, giant
albino snails, chameleons, geckos, meerkats, snakes, rodents,
llamas, emus, alpacas and many more including the more usual farm
animals such as pigs. Furthermore, the Centre will soon welcome a
new visitor – Goliath, the world's biggest bug!