Two vibrant murals have been created at the Isle of Wight Zoo in Sandown thanks to a Family Learning project in partnership with the zoo.

On Thursday 31st July at 2pm, TV presenter and naturalist, Nigel Marven will officially “open” vibrant wall murals featuring the zoo’s tigers in conjunction with Big Cat Week which runs from 28th July to 1st August.

The murals are the result of a conversation between Isle of Wight Council Family Learning Teacher Helen Goddard and the Zoo’s Education Officer, Tracy Dove. They devised a scheme to use tiger-themed art to brighten up the Zoo’s environment while promoting language and literacy skills within families at the same time.

The first mural features children’s representations of tigers. The children and their parents worked together to learn about tigers and conservation measures to save their habitats. They then visited the zoo as family groups to see, hear (and smell) the tigers, before drawing them from life. 

The young artists, aged from 5 years to 9 years, all attended Family Learning with their parents at St Helen’s Primary School and Niton Primary School. 

The second mural was the work of young mums from the Girl Friendly Society (GFS) Platform Sandown Bay Project.  The young women became knowledgeable about tigers and their habits through research using books and websites, before designing their group picture.  In addition to their three Manga (Japanese cartoon) inspired big cat portraits, they added questions and facts about tigers to the wall in order to encourage visitors to search for answers on the information boards located beside each big cat enclosure. 

Cllr Alan Wells, Isle of Wight Council cabinet member for children and young people said:

“This project is a great example of how the council is working in partnership with other organisations to deliver innovative learning schemes. The families and young mums who created the two murals have clearly enjoyed working together and the project has enabled the families to spend quality time together and  work effectively as a team.”

“The mural project has been singled out for praise by Professor Charles Desforges, an adviser to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), for encouraging teamwork and an ongoing sense of pride among a group of young parents.  I believe the young women plan to continue learning together in the future and have already decided on further activities to support learning at the Zoo.”

Helen Goddard from the Isle of Wight Council’s Family Learning team said:

“I have really enjoyed working with the children and families from Niton and St Helen’s primary schools and hope they will have happy memories of their “Tiger Tales” work this summer. I am looking forward to continuing our good relationship with the Isle of Wight Zoo and starting some new exciting projects soon.”

Feedback from those who took part in the scheme was very positive, as these extracts from a feedback questionnaire show:

“I gained more confidence with working with a group of people and expressing [my] opinions to others in the group.”  (GFS learner)
 
“We have both learned so much. When we were planning and making the game we were surrounded by books and spent a great deal of time going through them. “  (Family Learning parent describing the research process which underpinned the mural design.)
 
“The ‘Tiger Tales’ course was like an adventure every week!”  (Family Learning parent describing the course overall.)
 
“I learned to work as part of a team.”  (Family Learning pupil, aged 6, describing one of the benefits of the course.)

The children’s library service loaned a variety of resources to assist the families and young mums in their research and Day’s Colour Centre generously donated much of the paint. 

Further information about future Family Learning Courses can be obtained by ringing Chris Groves on 817280.