School Workshops on the farm

Farms and Learning Outside of the Classroom

Farms are as varied as the food we eat and provide opportunities to schools for learning both in a formal context and by enhancing the social and emotional aspects of development. Education may focus on livestock or arable production, or a combination, and be self-contained units or part of huge estates. There are a number that have developed as community and city farms which may be working farms, or smaller organisations that form a part of a community which can be visited by schools.

Learning opportunities

Every aspect of a farm visit gives opportunities for direct and indirect learning, by experiencing the unique sights, sounds and smells. A farm visit gives young people the opportunity to understand where the food we eat comes from, and an understanding of how food production affects the countryside. Farms offer many unique learning opportunities, from the power of simple first-hand experiences, such as witnessing the birth of a lamb in spring or walking through a field of wheat which stretches to the horizon, to getting to grips with microbes in action in a dairy as milk turns into cheese or getting a glimpse into the many varied careers involved in keeping the countryside flourishing.

A farm visit might focus on:

• ‘from field to plate’ — the journey made in the production of one food item such as milk, wheat or potatoes
• the impact on the landscape of farming operations
• the people and the diversity of farming careers —
• farm technology
• farming methods, perhaps comparing organic with conventional farming
• the natural environment
• geography and map work.

Learning support

Many farms provide learning materials they have produced to support your visit wether in the form of worksheets or activities to be carried out during the visit or on return to the classroom. Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) offers access to resources through its website and its network of regional education coordinators. It also provides signposts to many different organisations who offer support both in terms of resources to support your visit and other possible visits by people to the school or setting. FACE aim to educate children and young people about food and farming in a sustainable countryside.

There is widespread concern about the way children, young people, and their families, have become disassociated from where their food comes from and don’t know what is required for a healthy diet and lifestyle. They are also unaware of the many opportunities in the countryside for leisure and social activities, and for employment.  FACE aims to meet these educational needs by working with their members and partners to promote visits to farms, and to provide easy access to a wide range of high-quality educational resources and activities to complement both school-based studies and outdoor visits.

Their work with schools and young people is highly successful because of the immediate and widespread benefits of visits to the outdoors, and of using food, farming and the countryside to support many aspects of the curriculum and by doing so they aim to:
• stimulate interest and excitement;
• link to all aspects and stages of the school curriculum;
• allow pupils to see rural activities such as food production first-hand;
• introduce pupils to a host of leisure activities in the countryside;
• introduce pupils to rural career opportunities and the world of work.

FACE works with pupils and teachers and provides a one-stop enquiry service, curriculum resources, Regional Education Co-ordinators, links with farmers and the rural industries and training for teachers. They also provide workshops for farmers and seminars, support and advice, alongside an accreditation system for countryside visits while also forging links between schools and farms.

For more details of how your school can maximise the learning potential of the countryside or how FACE can assist with your school’s farm visits see the website www.face-online.org.uk/.