VIRTUAL GUIDE 2026-2027
Contents Welcome
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‘Ocean Literacy’ for all
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Activity Options & Price List
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Activity Selection
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Enchanted Seas Tour (EYFS & KS1)
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Beneath the Waves Tour (KS2)
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Changing Seas Tour (KS3/KS4)
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Bitesize Tour (60 minutes)
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Preparing for your Virtual Experience!
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Booking your Virtual Experience
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Accessing your Virtual Experience
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Welcome We are the Ocean Conservation Trust. A global charity that exists to protect and restore the Ocean. Our work – which began in 1998 – is centred around people and positive action through pro-Ocean behaviour and habitat restoration. We believe that when people feel an emotional connection with nature, they are more likely to protect and support its future. That is why our aim is to change behaviour by making the Ocean meaningful to as many people as possible. The National Marine Aquarium (NMA), situated in the city of Plymouth, is the home of the Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT) and sits on the shores of the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park. It is the largest Aquarium in the UK, home to over 5,000 marine animals and is visited by around 400,000 people per year! It’s also where many of our wonderful activities take place.
This OCT Virtual Experiences guide describes our Ocean-linked virtual activities that are available to school groups. Each activity is linked to the National and EYFS curriculums and can be tailored to cover a variety of marine-themed topics. We believe that everyone, everywhere is connected to the Ocean. It is our hope that you will find the activities described in this document to be valuable tools in your role as an educator, whatever subject you teach or age of your pupils, and we look forward to working with you soon.
Sincerely,
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Creating an ‘Ocean Literate’ Generation The Ocean is the largest living space on the planet and sustains countless plants and animals in a wide variety of habitats. Scientists all over the world are increasingly beginning to understand the role that the Ocean plays in keeping our planet, and its inhabitants alive and healthy. In fact, it is considered so important to the health of the planet that the United Nations have declared 2021 – 2030 as the ‘Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development’. The seven statements below are known as the ‘Ocean Literacy Principles’. These seven principles, along with the more detailed breakdowns of each are considered the foundation of an…
Understanding of the Ocean’s influence on us, and our influence on the Ocean 1. The Earth has one big Ocean with many features 2. The Ocean and life in the Ocean shape the features of Earth 3. The Ocean is a major influence on weather and climate 4. The Ocean makes the Earth habitable 5. The Ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems 6. The Ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected. 7. The Ocean is largely unexplored.
All our OCT Education activities make important links to a variety of Ocean Literacy Principles, to ensure that participants gain an understanding of how we are all connected to our one Ocean. Look in the session descriptions for which Ocean Literacy principles they most link to!
7 O.L. PRINCIPLE
oceanconservationtrust.org
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Activity Options Our Virtual Learning experiences are available to student groups of any age, from EYFS through to university pupils. Multiple classes can join our experiences from different classrooms. Virtual Tours (EYFS/KS1, KS2, KS3+) Let us take your pupils on an immersive under-water adventure as they journey across the world’s Ocean from the comfort of their own classrooms! Our tours are 90-minute (except the 60 minute mini tour) and will be led by one of our Learning Officers, who will virtually guide your pupils around the exhibits, highlighting links to key stage specific curriculum subjects and requested topics of interest. Along the way, your pupils will encounter a variety of Ocean animals including starfish, sharks, jellyfish and more! Your guides are experts and making this virtual tour as interactive as possible, and students will have the opportunity to ask their guide questions throughout. To find more about our Aquarium exhibits, visit the National Marine Aquarium: www.national-aquarium.co.uk
Price List Activity option
Enchanted Seas (EYFS/KS1) Beneath the Waves (KS2) Changing Seas (KS3/KS4)
Bitesize Tour (60 minutes)
Cost (all prices are inclusive of VAT)
- £120 for a single video connection - £60 per additional connection
- £80 for a single video connection - £40 per additional connection
oceanconservationtrust.org
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Enchanted Seas Tour (EYFS/KS1) 5 SCIENCE
TECH
ENGLISH
ART
MATHS
HUMANITIES
O.L. Principle
Session Overview: Take your pupils on an interactive underwater adventure as they virtually explore the Aquarium in search of their favourite Ocean animals! Your own personal tour guide will reveal a range of fascinating, weird and wonderful facts about our seacreatures, answering any questions your pupils might have along the way. Pupils will be encouraged to actively engage with the tour, getting involved physically by acting out some of their favourite animals and playing guessing games with their guide!
• Shapes, colours, patterns
• Classification
• Food chains
• Camouflage
• Habitats
• Species ID
• Body form and function
• Lifecycles
• Pollution
oceanconservationtrust.org
COMMON TOPICS AND THEMES:
Beneath the Waves (KS2) 5 SCIENCE
TECH
ENGLISH
ART
MATHS
HUMANITIES
O.L. Principle
Session Overview: During this immersive underwater adventure, pupils will identify the adaptations of a variety of Ocean creatures across a range of habitats and discover predator-prey interactions between different species. Their own personal guide will also cover classification, the importance of our Ocean, how humans are having an impact, and what we can do to protect it. Pupils will also have plenty of opportunities to ask all the questions they’ve ever wanted to know about marine animals and life at the aquarium! COMMON TOPICS AND THEMES: • Habitats
• Classification
• Overfishing
• Adaptations
• Species ID
• Pollution
• Evolution
• Food Chains
• Climate Change
oceanconservationtrust.org
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Changing Seas Tour (KS3/KS4) 5 SCIENCE
TECH
ENGLISH
ART
MATHS
HUMANITIES
O.L. Principle
Session Overview: In Changing Seas, your students will learn about how we look after the 5,000 animals housed at the National Marine Aquarium. They will start to understand more about how these animals have evolved to best suit their environments, and the important roles they play in the marine world. Students will be encouraged to discuss some important issues facing the Ocean and consider the ways in which our actions, as individuals and as a community, can have a positive impact.
• Renewable Energy
• Evolution
• Ecosystems
• Marine Protected Areas
• Reproduction
• Food chains/webs
• Habitat Restoration
• Classification
• Interdependence
NEW!
Bitesize Tour
5 SCIENCE
TECH
ENGLISH
ART
MATHS
HUMANITIES
O.L. Principle
Session Overview: For those short on time or with students who would benefit from a shorter session, our bitesize tour is perfect for you! Running for an hour, this session will visit our favourite parts of the Aquarium, keeping the interactive elements and making time for questions. This session can be adapted for any learning objectives requested, and will meet the National Curriculum links for • Shapes, colours, patterns that key stage. LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• Camouflage • Body form and function
(Following this session your students will be able to…) • Shapes, colours & patterns
• Habitats
• Evolution
• Camouflage
• Adaptations
• Reproduction
• Body form & function
• Evolution
• Classification
oceanconservationtrust.org
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oceanconservationtrust.org
COMMON TOPICS AND THEMES:
Preparing for your Virtual Experience You’ll need access to a computer with a webcam and microphone - one in each room your pupils will be connecting from. Don’t worry if you’ve not done this before, or you’re not confident with the setup. Our Learning Officers can help with the technical arrangements. Please contact us prior to your tour should you wish for some guidance and support. Please ensure all resources you intend to use during the session are printed and ready to be used. You might like to consider creating a list of questions for the pupils to ask before your session commences.
Booking your Virtual Experience To book, please complete our Education Enquiry form by clicking here. The form will ask for: Your preferred virtual tour Your preferred date/time Year group of students Preferred platform. We prioritise Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but if you require a different platform, we’ll be happy to investigate an alternative delivery for you How many connections you would like (how many rooms will your students be watching form. E.g: all in the same hall or two classes in their respective classrooms?) Once you have submitted the form, we will send you through a Booking Form, which will outline the details of your visit. You will need to check this through and complete the relevant sections before returning it to us. Once we have received your completed forms, your booking will be confirmed.
If you have any questions beforehand, please call us on 01752 275233 or email us at learning@oceanconservationtrust.org
Did you know? We will happily arrange test-run before the date of your virtual tour or workshop, to ensure that you don’t experience any technical issues on the day!
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Accessing Your Virtual Experience Your booking form will contain a weblink provided to access the session. Once in, you will find yourself in the waiting room. Our Learning Officer will then allow you to enter the session. We recommend joining the session a few minutes early to discuss any final points with your Learning Officer before they begin the session with your pupils.
Amending and Cancelling your Virtual Experience Booking Amendments: If you would like to make any amendments to your booking, such as session time or activity choice, please tell us as far in advance as possible. Booking Cancelation: Please let us know as soon as you can if you wish to cancel your booking. We require 7 days’ notice of cancellation or significant alteration to the agreed programme. A £50 cancellation fee may be charged if insufficient notice is provided.
Safety Notes Safeguarding & Risk Assessment As with our Aquarium Visits and School Outreach offerings, our Virtual Programme has been fully risk assessed and incorporated into our safeguarding policy. These documents are available upon request should they be of use to you in your lesson planning. Shareable links & home connections We provide you with a single, shareable link for the session. By agreement with our booking team, we can facilitate pupils connecting from home so last-minute absence doesn’t have to mean missing out. Private connections Your Virtual Experience booking is just for you - no other schools will be able to join the session, so the content can be tailored to suit your exact needs.
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oceanconservationtrust.org