TWELVE infants from a St Albans junior school learnt all about the animal kingdom today at a newly-opened wildlife centre based at Oakland College.

The pupils who form the youth council at Fleetville School were invited to the Habitat Centre at the Hatfield Road campus, which is home to several reptiles, insects and mammals.

The animal centre offers primary and secondary schools the opportunity to have a fun day out, coupled with an educational experience which is linked with the National Curriculum.

This morning the youngsters were treated to apple picking in the orchard and made fresh juice with a helping hand from David Curry of the Hertfordshire Orchard Initiative.

As the day progressed, centre manager Penny Hounsome asked the pupils which animals they wanted to handle and gave the pupils an opportunity to find out more about them. Among those analysed included a guinea pig, stick insect and an albino hedgehog.

Speaking to the Review about his day, seven-year-old James Barwick said: “I've had lots of fun today.

“The best part was seeing the apples being turned into apple juice. My favorite animal was the bearded dragon.

“We will be reporting back to the school what we saw and what we learnt.”

Five-year-old Helen Ross said: “I will go back to school and tell everyone it was really fun and one day you should go there yourself.”

To round off the day, Penny gave the children clay to create a sculpture of their favorite animal.

Fiona Soans, head of the school council at Fleetville School, said: “It's been a really exciting - a fun day for the kids.

“Most of them have never seen half of these animals or even been so up close to them and it's great for the college to invite us.”

She added: “These children make up the school council and they will report back to the school what they learnt and also incorporate the information into a project they are doing about the global environment, animals and their habitat.”