Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

For those visitors who need a visit a little out of the ordinary, Chester Zoo is perfect; a multi-sensory experience, an amazing array of sights, sounds and smells, and everywhere is fully accessible for disabled visitors.

You can see, hear and smell our animals and, in our free-flight exhibits (Fruit Bat Forest and Butterfly Journey) you can feel them as they fly past you! And our interpretation lets you touch and smell objects related to animals and conservation.

Teaching programmes

We offer teaching programmes and welcome groups of all abilities.  The sessions we offer are listed under the relevant Key Stages to the left. If you’re interested in these, just let us know your special needs at the time of booking so we can ensure the teaching session is appropriate to your group.

And we haven’t forgotten the everyday matters!

We have a number of wheelchairs available; to book or to find out more please email guest.services@chesterzoo.org

There are accessible toilets across the site, with a mobile hoist and changing mat in the Jubilee Square toilets.

We’ve compiled a resource for teachers bringing pupils who are anxious about their visit. You can prepare them with the images in the document helping them become more familiar with the sights of the Zoo.  We hope this will go some way to easing their apprehension.

Download our Chester Zoo Social Story

For further information call our Education team a call on 01244 650205 or 01244 389444.

See our Learning Resources page to find an extensive range of activities, worksheets and videos for your Key Stage. You can use these either to complement your in-zoo workshops or visit or as stand alone in the classroom