School visit with piggies - any tips?

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lauraboara

lauraboara

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I have the chance to go into my little boy's school to talk about guinea pigs and take in a couple. Mainly because my little boy talks about them at school all the time and tells them about Gregory popcorning to Countryfile music rolleyes

I am quite keen as I think it would be good to explain about basic guinea pig care and give a plug for rescues. I know of a couple of guinea pigs who belong to local families who are loved but not in the best conditions eg always outside but without extra heat, fed loads of carrots etc.

I think my older pair of calm piggies could cope - I would not take the youngsters in. I would have an adult helper too. The class is not massive - about 20 and it is a little village school.

Does anyone have any tips on making it bearable for the piggies? Or tips on how to engage the kids on the care aspects?
 
Give them lots of places to hide, just in case they do get frightened by anything. I hope it goes well! Good luck! :)
 
bessiehen said:
Hi I work in a primary school and have thought of taking mine in but one big thing puts me off - health and safety and parent complaints! I would be worried that if one of my pigs bit a child I would be taken to task over it, with dire consequences for my piggles. Although I have never been 'sued' kids do like to bandy the word around a bit! I would ask the school to prepare a letter with some sort of permission to stroke / bite disclaimer. I know it sounds a bit over the top but there is so much schools have to be wary of - you should see our playground risk assessment! :{
Click to expand...

Thanks for raising that - completely barmy mallethead that we have to think about litigation, but you are absolutely right. The headteacher is also actually a farmer and very sensible so I will have a chat with her before progressing the plan further.(it was her idea)

And will also check about the allergies issue that Joanne raised.

If i can't take in a pair of piggies, I will still try and do a chat with pics since the interest seems to be there.:)
 
I have taken a rabbit and some mice to my kids' school (two separate visits). *The class teacher did the risk assessment. *With the rabbit, I sat him on my knee and the kids queued up to stroke him, they were told not to touch his head. *He is used to being handled by kids anyway, and wasn't bothered. *The mice were in a big cage and stayed in the classroom all day so the kids could watch them but we didn't take them out at all. *I went in and did a brief talk about them at the end of the day.

Another family took their pet chickens in, I bet that was fun!
 
Glad to hear it can happen. Will ask about the risk assessment.

Yes don't fancy managing a room full of 6 year olds and chickens........
 
Hi! I'm a kindergarten teacher and I think I can offer you some advice here. First, before introducing the piggies to the class, explain to the kids that they are prey animals and can be frightened by loud noises or loud voices. Maybe try to establish a rule with them that they should keep their voices low when close to the piggies. Also insist that the piggies can be scared and maybe hide.
I think it should go well, I want to do it with my class too! Let us know :D
 
aww some excellent tips from teachers here for you to consider. You might want to talk to Bramley cavies as they do pet therapy and these types of visits and they might be able to give you some tips on things to cover or keep the children interested
 
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