CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT WEEK
specialists in the care and training of mammals and birds. More than 100 different species are housed in the zoo and the pupils learnt how the animals are stimulated and trained to respond to instructions, and how natural behaviour can be maximized to give the impression of emotions. They met Vera the Raven who starred
in The Voice UK 2015 Launch Trailer – alongside Rita Ora, Tom Jones,
will.i.am, and Ricky Wilson – performing the Ram Jam single ‘Black Betty’; saw a group of rhesus macaque monkeys (stars of a Costa Coffee advertisement) pulling faces and performing behaviours on command; and watched in awe as zoo director Jim Clubb shared a cage in the zoo’s film studio with lions and tigers to demonstrate how they can be used by the media and how he does
stunt doubles for actors, for example, when they need to stroke a big cat. Enrichment is very important for the animals and, in their own enrichment week, pupils were invited to enter the tiger enclosure and monkey house and create cardboard box models of the animals in which they hid treats … meat for the tigers and sweets and fruit for the monkeys. With the pupils safely out of the way, the animals were then let back in and visibly
enjoyed trashing the pupil’s artwork and finding their edible treats. As well as entering empty animal pens pupils also had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the creatures when they were invited to enter both the penguin and the lemur enclosures to feed the animals.
Amazing Animals and the Sibford connection
As part of the Government’s pledge to create 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, a new form of apprenticeship has been developed called Trailblazer Apprenticeship Standard. In 2016, Amazing Animals was
part of a team invited to help develop two Trailblazer Standards ~ ‘Animal Welfare Assistant’ and ‘Animal Trainer at Level 4’ which will be delivered shortly. Heading up the project was
Jim’s son, Jamie Clubb ... a former Sibford pupil. “I was at Sibford from 1987 to
1994,” said Jamie “And so it was great to see the Sibford pupils here today ... and to meet up with Tracy Knowles who I remember well from my days at Sibford.” Today Jamie is heavily involved in educational work. In 2006 he co-wrote an NVQ in Animal Training for the audio visual industry and became an NVQ assessor. He is also responsible for Amazing Animals’ work experience programme. He also runs his own self- protection and mixed martial arts business, Clubb Chimera, and has written a number of books. Sibford pupils were fascinated to hear that Jamie holds the
record for most unusual excuse for being absent from school. “We had to ring up to say I was unable to come in because I’d been bitten by a hyena,” he said showing pupils his scar. “I don’t think they believed me at first but it was the honest truth!”
30 / The Sibfordian
Top: Sibford pupils watch as Jamie feeds Vera the Raven ... star of The Voice trailer. Above: Jamie is reunited with Tracy Knowles.
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