WOLVERLEY CE Secondary School animal care students can now have regular hands on experience thanks to the school’s new animal care centre.

The centre opened at end of September and has a wide collection of small indoor species, including rabbits, hamsters, geckos and a baby Royal Python.

Bryn Thomas, headteacher at Wolverley CE Secondary School, said: “Thanks to our new centre, students are able to experience hands on animal care, helping them learn how to create the different environments needed for the animals and the specific care plans. It has proved extremely popular with all students at the school who have been visiting the centre to see and pet the animals.”

On Thursday October 16, students held a fundraising day in a bid to raise money to expand the centre. During the day, students paid £1 each to wear non-school uniform and took part in other activities, including meet the animal tours, a cake sale and naming the centre’s new chinchilla and rats.

The day raised a grand total of £552.80.

The school plans to expand the centre to include animal gardens for small outdoor animals and eventually paddocks for larger livestock, giving students more opportunities to enhance their studies.

The school is appealing to the local community for help with the expansion and are looking for donations of building materials, including, timber, bricks, slabs, wire fencing, cement, nails and screws, as well as pond liner, sleepers, tubes, rocks and grass seed, to help them create suitable enclosures. Those interested in donating materials can contact the school directly.

The centre is open to other schools and groups in the region to visit for an educational Animal Encounter session. Schools and groups can contact the school for more information.