Scotland’s biggest classroom without walls,” is how Elaine Durkin, marketing manager for Loch Lomond Shores describes the stunning new pound;60 million visitor centre at Balloch on the southern tip of Loch Lomond. The centre serves as the gateway to the Trossachs National Park.

This is a “classroom which potentially takes in the most beautiful parts of West Dunbartonshire, Stirling and Argyll, although on a half-day school visit you’d have to content yourself with the superb facilities at the centre and the bonnie banks and waves of the loch itself.

“Loch Lomond is known throughout the world. It’s a unique place with unique learning opportunities - what we like to call unrestricted learning because it dissolves the barriers of the traditional classroom by using natural assets and the natural environment as a centre for learning,” says Miss Durkin.

The education market is a key audience for the centre with a wide range of curriculum subjects that can be used by schools in Scotland, but are also relevant for those in England and Wales.

The first phase of the education programme launched this month includes 5-14 curriculum packs on Castles, Mountains and Lowlands and Loch Lomond; a workshop on Loch Lomond National Park; cruises on the loch that highlight areas of interest; and a talk on the history of paddle steamers.

The fully equipped education resource centre resembles a hi-tech conference room rather than a traditional classroom. It is contained within Drumkinnon Tower, the centrepiece of the visitor centre whose design is reminiscent of a Scottish castle.

The tower also contains a 350-seat, large format iWERKS theatre which screens a 10-minute journey “Beneath the Loch” and a 40-minute film ,“Legend of Loch Lomond”, which tells the story behind the song “The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond”.

The second stage of the programme, to be launched next spring, will include 5-14 curriculum packs Changes in Land Use and Quayside Development; National Park workshops and the development of activities relating to creative arts and technology.

There is a resident theatre company, The Loch Lomond Troupe, which re-enacts myths and legends as street theatre and will run hands-on workshops.

Loch Lomond Shores also houses the Gateway Centre, a tourist area for the national park which has an abundance of interactive and child-friendly screens explaining local geology, geography and wildlife.

The Gateway opens on to a small but highly innovative sculpture and art installation woodland park with exhibits relating to the landscape and environment.

Recognising that travel costs are a major constraint to school visits, Loch Lomond Shores offers subsidised transport. “In effect, this means that any school from anywhere in Scotland wishing to visit us should have to pay no more than pound;100,” says Miss Durkin.

There are also plans to allow school parties to paint their own murals within parts of Drumkinnon Tower. An open day for primary and secondary heads and teachers from Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire is to be held in the first week of October.

TAKE A TRIP

Loch Lomond Shores is open daily April - September 9am to 7pm; October to March 10am and 5pm.www.lochlomondshores.com; Education contact: Elaine Durkin 01389 7223644.