The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2024 issue - Magazine - Page 66
If you are a Headteacher looking
for that life-changing, immersive
residential experience for your pupils
in the Autumn term, look no further
than a week of “muck and magic”
on one of Farms for City Children’s
stunning heritage farms.
Across the school year, Farms for City
Children welcomes young people
between the ages of 8-19, from all
regions across England and Wales,
particularly those navigating their
childhood in communities
experiencing the highest levels of
deprivation and disadvantage, to
enjoy a nature nurturing week of food,
farming, and outdoor learning.
A week on our farms increases a
child’s learning and engagement,
enhances their sense of environmental
citizenship, and improves connections
between peers and teachers,
supporting health and wellbeing
so that children return to school
equipped with transferable life skills
that they can use in the classroom
and at home.
A week of meaningful physical
tasks delivered outdoors, nutritious
home-cooked food, and a digital de-tox
develops resilience, grit and growth
mindset, and boosts a child’s selfesteem, courage, and confidence.
What can you expect to do on the
farms if you bring your school to
visit us between September and
December?
As summer fades and the evenings
draw in the land gives up its bounty in
the autumn harvest. If you venture to
Lower Treginnis, Pembrokeshire, you
will encounter a laboratory of the
natural world waiting to be explored.
Our farm, which sits atop the most
stunning coastline, is the perfect spot
for observing the beaches and caves
of Ramsey Island as it hosts several
hundred seal pups each autumn, and
stonechats, meadow pipits, linnets and
skylarks can be seen in the heather
and gorse heaths. Meanwhile, the land
yields leeks, onions and pumpkins
ready for the children to harvest, clean,
and bring into the kitchen for their
daily cookery sessions. The children
also work with our pigs, poultry, goats
and equines who need attention, and
there is much to do from mucking out,
grooming and walking the donkeys,
and performing maintenance tasks on
the land and buildings.
At our Victorian manor in Devon,
Nethercott House, our bees start
preparing for the winter enabling us
to harvest the honey, make sure they
have enough stores, and consider
requeening if it is necessary. With the
field>farm>fork agenda at the core of
everything we do, autumn is the time
for children to bring in the crops from
our kitchen garden: onions, squash,
brassicas, apples, pears and soft fruits
make delicious meals and broaden
young palates. Heritage breeds are
crucial to our mission to connect
children to the provenance of their
food. This year’s Dartmoor lambs, and
our rare breed Ruby Devon calves are
weaned in September and October,
and we will start feeding them more
and bringing them into the barns as
the temperature drops and the grass
stops growing. Climbing aboard the
tractor and trailer as the sun rises on
crisp mornings, and journeying through
windy Devon lanes to stock check the
animals, is a memory that will last a
lifetime. Marvelling at the Hawthorn,
Elder, Blackthorn and Hazel nuts and
berries, birds and small mammals in the
hedgerows and in our orchards, inspires
children to see themselves as the
custodians of the land for generations
to come.
At Wick Court farm, our Elizabethan
moated house in Gloucestershire,
our heritage orchards provide a
wonderful harvest of tasty fruit for
children to pick, juice, and store.
They help prepare for the next year by
pruning and mulching the trees ready
forwinter. Our rare species bats, and
an abundance of birds along the
River Severn follow the hedgerows
to nesting and feeding sites, and
children relish the chance to immerse
themselves in observing. Just like our
other farms, the year’s young animals
are weaned, fed, groomed and mucked
out, providing some wonderful
hands-on activities for the children
and the teachers.
Hard graft, physical labour, and
teamwork through authentic farm tasks
is complemented at Wick Court with
sessions in the roundhouse, with willow
weaving, storytelling, and eating food
around the open fire. The chance to
build dens, playoutdoors, and to enjoy
social time away from devices, combine
to provide a holistic week that benefits
children’s diet, sleeping habits,
behaviour, and engagement.
A week on one of our farms supports
the national curriculum, enrichment
programmes, and the school’s
provision of PSHE, wellbeing and
Citizenship.
If a week of “muck and magic” in 2025 - 2026 at Farms for City Children sounds just like
what your school needs, please get in touch by calling us on 01392 276381 or visiting
our website www.farmsforcitychildren.org or check out our social channels.
