# School visits?



## lucky (Jun 23, 2006)

Hi there
I'm looking at a career change and i've always wanted to take my reps and inverts into local schools, etc like those that zoolab do.
I have been looking into the costs involved - getting a car for myself, running costs of viv's etc. I contacted exotic direct re public liability insurance over a week ago and they still haven't been in touch, are there any other insurers who do this type of insurance?
Also I don't have any formal education on animals, will that be a problem?
And finally if I use material i find on the internet or in books where do i stand on copyright issues?
Any help would be very greatly appreciated


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## Demonique (May 5, 2007)

Some crowd called Cliverton do 3rd party insurance


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## ukgeckos (Apr 11, 2007)

I did it when I was younger and simply went to the school and asked if they wanted me to do a talk on reps. that was a few years ago and so things like insurance wasnt a problem then I simply didnt bother with it.
It was enjoyable however and I am now becoming a teacher, no doubt that doing this while younger helped me choose a career.
I also plan on having a living viv in my classroom (Im a geog teacher) to show a mini ecosystem and my phelsuma are going to be the stars of the show


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## Moshpitviper (Oct 21, 2005)

bugger all money in that line of work really. :lol2:


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## amber_gekko (May 11, 2007)

most insurance companies do public liability insurance but you prob have to phone them direct, i know axa do it


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

Can't see it being a career as can't see the government paying somone to takes reptiles into schools.

I know somone on here posted saying they went to a school with her rep's and none of the kids could tocuh them.


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## SelinaRealm (Sep 16, 2006)

stephenie191 said:


> Can't see it being a career as can't see the government paying somone to takes reptiles into schools.
> 
> I know somone on here posted saying they went to a school with her rep's and none of the kids could tocuh them.


I think that was a different case, if it was the one on the general herp chat a wee while ago?

The reason the kids didn't get to touch was becuase it was a sort of sho and tell with a child parent taking the animals into the school. Therefore, the no touching rule was to cover the school as they are not insured for that sort of thing.

Its different when a registered company, with full public liability insurance does it. There have been a few in the schools up here and its a different story when it comes to the school knowing the proper insurance is in place and their back is covered.

Also, to do this line of work you have to be registered with Defra as having obtained the relivent authorisation for transport. This kind of job would involve transporting animals for financial gain and I think that might come under the European Legislation for the Transport of animals and a Authorisation certificate is required (Type of Licience for transporting animals). I could be wrong, but worth Lucky looking into it anyway.


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## melanie (Jan 18, 2007)

Personally i think it is really sad that people go in to the schools and charge loads to show a few animals to the kids.
My hubby and myself have gone into my kids middle school 3 times since last year, the last time was just before term to show them differnt animals and we have done talks on bugs, reptiles, and life cycles.
I did see a leaflet of what one particular company charges the school and it was £250 for a few hours and in all honesty we had more to show the kids than they did.

I know someone of you will agree with charging but in all honesty i think we as parents get charged enough for our kids to part take in and as parents of children at the school we feel that as parents we should if possible help the school out.

there are so many parents with so many skills and qualifications that they could show and talk to the children about and help them with, the fact i am a qualified chef has enable me to go in and show the kids how to make scones and the teacher there has acted as my comis chef (lol)

the kids benefit so much more by seeing this visually and it sinks in so much better than just reading it out of a book.

most kids will never get to see a gecko up close or see a tarantula up close in its tank (we don't advise anyone to hold a tarantula) and all of them loved the talks we do and sit there as good as gold totally mesmerised by it all.

For us it's hard work, getting the animals organised, printing out sheets of bugs for the reception kids to colour in and giving out quiz sheets to the older ones but when you have finished and the kids come up to you all excited thanking you and weeks later will come up to you quoting back to the things you have said or coming back because they themselves have carried on the research, it is then you stand back, smile and know you gave something, your'e time for free, your'e knowledge for free for no one else but the kids....our own future.

nothing makes the kids more proud than seeing their parents do a talk, since we started doing this , parents have done talks on jobs they do or talks showing kids their hobby and grans and grandads going in showing kids photos of the war and telling them their own personal experiences during the war.

You don't have to take a snake in or a tarantula to make things exciting, kids get excited just to be able to see up close and funny enough they totally loved holding giant mealworms and land snails.

none of the kids hold anything like snakes or tarantulas, it's not worth the risk, you can never 100% trust anything like that around your'e own children, let alone someone elses so although they can see them them they are not upclose to be able to touch them, but the kids don't mind at all they just love to be able to see them in their tanks up close or see mark handle them from a safe distance.


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## stuart89 (Mar 16, 2008)

I couldnt see this taking off as a full time career because I cant see many schools doing it once, let alone twice. Meaning youd have to charge more and it would just be a spiraling effect. 

I think it could work as something on the side, but I wouldnt do a full career switch to it.


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## slither61 (Nov 18, 2006)

Hi all,

Last year at Bristol Zoo they had someone giving a talk on snakes they were insured but they would not let you touch the snakes.

A lot of people were intrested in the talk but very disappointed when they could not touch, and people that are scared of snakes if you can get them to listen to the talk they might even pluck up courrage to touch or even handle the snake, you might even get a new herp keeper, but if they cannot touch we will never know.

Alot of it is common sence, at times there is too much red tape.

slither61 :snake::snake::snake::snake:


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## lucky (Jun 23, 2006)

Thanks for all the replys guys.
I realise that it wouldn't make alot of money but i wouldn't be losing alot as i'm only a dinner lady now and tbh i'm sick of peeling spuds everyday. I'd like to have job satisfaction at the end of the day.
I'll check into the Defra position - hadn't thought of that.


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## Onissarle (Mar 1, 2007)

I've been doing school visits on a voluntary basis for a few years now. Because I'm a private individual doing it on a voluntary basis, I get to avoid a few of the complications a business would encounter but it still isn't straight forward.

First and foremost, if you aren't a parent/guardian the school shouldn't let you through the door during school hours unless you can provide an up to date CRB check certificate. Luckily for me, the school I do regularly paid to have mine put through the system last year, so it covers me for this year as well.

If you're doing it as a business, you will definitely need liability insurance. Many schools may insist on it even if you're not doing it as a business.

As someone already mentioned, if you're transporting animals for business purposes, you now need to be licensed by Defra to do so. Personally, I haven't looked into this so I can't offer any advice there.

Technically, to do animal displays in school as a business, you will need a performing animals licence too. Off the top of my head, I think it comes under the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 but I could be remembering incorrectly. These are issued by your local council so you might need to check up if it would still be valid in other parts of the country or just within your county/region. 

As for display vs kids handling the animals... I always let the kids touch the animals I take to show them. Last year I took 17 species ranging from cockroaches to Tegus and large boas with an impressive range in between. We have a very simple rule though. We take big bottles of the alcohol based hand cleaning gel with us and ALL children have to us it when they enter the room and before they leave. We make the school send out permission slips for this before we go. If the child doesn't get parental consent to take part and to use the alcohol based hand gel, they aren't allowed into the room.

When it comes down to the safety of the children around the animals, you can remove any risk of bites and such by observing good handling practices. We give a brief talk about this to every group before we bring out any animals for display or handling. Any child that behaves inappropriately around the animals leaves the room for the remainder of the session.

I only take the calmest, most trustworthy animals to begin with. On top of that, for most animals, they only get to touch or stroke them while I have full control of the animal. When they do get to hold them, I still have a hand on, keeping control of the animal's head. In the very rare exceptions where we let a child hold an animal by themselves (I'll usually pick out a child that has reptiles at home for this), it is with a single animal that is incredibly placid (like my everglades who isn't even bothered if you poke him in the face) and I'm always within arms reach, watching the animal for the first signs of stress. Any animals that shows even a hint of stressed behaviour gets put away for the rest of the day. We take several 'spare' animals to fill time slots for when this happens.

In my opinion, there's little point showing them an animal at the front of a room. They can see that on TV any day they like. For me, the benefit is letting them get up close and personal with the animals so they can understand and appreciate them better. Feeling how a snake moves is very different to watching one move.

All that aside, I really wouldn't think it is a practical business idea. There are well established individuals in some areas that make a living from taking animals in to schools and you'd have a hard time competing if all you had was reptiles. The first time I ever held a snake was at the age of 8 when the 'animal man' came to school and I was the only person who dared ask to hold the snake he brought. He also brought ferrets, hedgehogs, owls, hawks, etc, etc. You'd have to be able to average two or three bookings a week all year round (which when you cut out the long holidays makes it more like three/four bookings a week) in order to make a decent living from it. 

I do it purely because I'm passionate about reptiles and believe it's important to educate people about them when young to dispel the myths. If you're looking to do this as a hobby rather than a business and don't really need the money, it can work well. As a business, it all gets complicated and might end up costing you more in licensing, insurance etc than you can realistically make back unless you're willing to do it as a full time job and cover a very wide area.


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## badboiboom (Oct 22, 2007)

zoo lab came to my school a couple of months ago the woman said she was going to keep in touch to breed my corn with hers but she never rang me


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## markandwend (Jan 28, 2007)

Zoo lab are always around schools around here, they let the kids hold all different things.


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