Customer Care Information and guidance for teachers Contents Learning Objectives Lesson plan Plan a route Suggested activities to link with session Things to arrange prior to visit The day of your trip: arriving at the Zoo Your teaching session Helping UK wildlife - Harvest mouse re-introduction at Chester Zoo

Back to top One of our Discovery sessions in action! Customer Care Learning Objectives After attending this session, students will be able to: ▪ Explain why customer care is so important to Chester Zoo ▪ Give an example of how Chester Zoo gathers visitor information ▪ Give a basic description of Chester Zoo’s target audience (e.g. age, where they live, when they come to the Zoo) ▪ Give a brief description of the Zoo’s management structure ▪ Explain how Chester Zoo deals with customer complaints Lesson Plan Based around a PowerPoint presentation the following areas will be covered: ▪ The Mission of Chester Zoo. ▪ Chester Zoo as a charity. ▪ Sources of income (includes figure for various sources). ▪ Why we need excellent customer care (we rely on repeat visits, most people won’t complain, word of mouth – fewer people pass on information if something is good than if it is bad). ▪ Visitor information (visitor numbers per year and month, visitor age, where they come from (catchment area), socio-economic groups, whether visitors come back and dwell time). ▪ What we offer – Zoo advert, what visitors say that they want, how we provide this. ▪ Management structure. ▪ Staff training. ▪ Complaints procedure. ▪ Internal customers – Staff development, communication, perks. Our male Sumatran Orang-utan, Puluh ‘Marmot Mania’ at Chester Zoo!

Plan a route Many different species will be discussed during the session, and may include: Sealions (between penguins and Aquarium) – consider viewing for different ages and abilities. Penguins (by the sealions) – consider viewing for different ages and abilities. Popular animals – elephants (to the left of the Main Entrance) Rhinos (to the right of the Main Entrance) bats (Twilight Zone, students must be accompanied in the twilight zone), tiger (between Europe on the Edge and the monorail station), lion (opposite the tiger), Jaguars (next to the Education Centre) penguins (between the sealions and the flamingos). Back to top Asoka – Chester Zoo’s male Asiatic Lion Click here to download a Zoo Map

One of our young Sumatran Orang-utans born in 2004 Suggested activities to link with session Before visit Some background knowledge of the above concepts would be useful to maximise students learning opportunities on the day. Additional resources are available for booked groups. These can be requested before, during or after your visit. Send us a CD stating the subject/s you are interested in along with an SAE and we will do our best to get the information to you before your visit or give it to you on the day of your visit. Or if you bring a CD and SAE with you we will send the information back to you as soon as possible. Students list the animals/facilities that they would ideally like to see at a zoo (in groups they could consider different age groups what they would like or need on a visit to the zoo). During visit We ask that you do not carry out surveys of our visitors during your visit. Undertake a mystery shopper type survey. Ask a staff member a question and rate them on helpfulness, communication etc ( please restrict this to one question per member of staff ). Rate our facilities e.g. toilet cleanliness, restaurants – range on offer, queue and cost. As students are going around the Zoo they tick of animals, facilities that they listed before your visit, and think about why others are not provided. Continued on next page…

One of our Critically Endangered Blue-throated Macaws Make a note of any staff the you see and what they are doing. Consider viewing at each enclosure considering age/ability/number of visitors. Visit Visitor Information between the lion and tiger enclosures Follow sign posts/use maps to find your way around the Zoo, how easy are they to follow? After visit Design a Zoo, consider facilities required (car park, toilets, food outlets etc) and species to attract people. Visit Chester Cathedral and make a comparison between Chester Zoo and the Cathedral as tourist attractions. Chester Cathedral is a former Benedictine monastery with exceptionally well preserved monastic buildings and woodwork. It is a thriving place of Christian worship with an Education Department that enables school groups to study many aspects of the National Curriculum including Citizenship and Enterprise. As a business enterprise, interesting and thought provoking comparisons can be made with the business that is Chester Zoo. Back to top

Things to arrange prior to visit Please check details on confirmation letter, any queries please call Arrange a pre-visit to the Zoo, contact us for details. Arrange appropriate number of group leaders and collate contact details. Assign students to a group leader, ensure students and leaders know the running plan for the day, have staff contact details and map of the Zoo (click here).click here Ensure group leaders have a plan for the day including; student names, time and location of teaching session (e.g. a copy of the confirmation letter) and where to meet, if necessary, after the session as well as a map of the Zoo. Running plan for the day Time and location of teaching session Time and location to meet for teaching session Time and location to meet for lunch Time to visit Twilight Zone (all students under 16 must be accompanied through the Twilight Zone) Time for students to visit the gift shop (the shop at the entrance is open all year round, opening times of the other 2 shops vary throughout the year) All students under 16 should be accompanied in the gift shops Time and location to meet when leaving the Zoo Back to top A visitor favourite: ‘Boris’ the chimpanzee

Back to top One of the most popular animals at the zoo – the Californian Sealions The day of your trip: arriving at the Zoo Please help us to make your entrance to the Zoo as smooth as possible Allow plenty of time to get to and into the Zoo, it can take over 30 minutes to enter the Zoo and reach the Education Centre, particularly at busy times of year. On arrival the group leader only should approach the main gate with the confirmation letter. Students and other staff should remain on the coach. This provides an ideal opportunity for another member of staff to run through itinerary for the day with students and helpers, to hand out work sheets, information, maps, talk times etc. Once the paperwork has been completed the group leader can collect the group from the coach to be counted into the Zoo by Gate Staff. There are toilets at the main entrance both inside and outside the Zoo. Rainy day – indoor enclosures The Aquarium, Tropical Realm, Twilight Zone, Spirit of the Jaguar, Islands in Danger are all undercover, indoor exhibits. Additionally, macaws, Chimps, orang-utans, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, Monkeys, Miniature Monkeys all have undercover viewing.

Your teaching session Sessions are run in 3 classrooms all located in the Education Centre next to the Spirit of the Jaguar exhibit. Please be aware that it can take 30+ minutes to cross the zoo particularly at busy times of year. On arrival at the Education Centre please wait outside the appropriate room (Cook, Columbus or Cousteau), as stated on your booking confirmation, for an Education Officer to greet you. Please don’t block doorways to education classrooms as there may be classes about to leave. Each teaching session will last approximately 50 minutes. There is plenty of open space for lunches outside the Education Centre. On rainy days there is an indoor picnic area (Arara Picnic Lodge) past the Spirit of the Jaguar exhibit. There are toilets opposite the Spirit of the Jaguar house just past the Education Centre. If you are delayed for any reason and may be late for your teaching session please contact , we may be able to help! If you have found this information useful or think there is something that we could add to help your day run smoothly please let us know at Back to top Meeting ‘Beaky’ the quail during a Discovery session