Country School - Farming? - No Thanks!

[Wink]

A bit of a rant I guess as I was a bit disheartened by this.

So... I took on some extra local grazing for sheep and one of the fields joins on to a primary school playground (I went there long ago and my much younger sister goes there now). I need to use the grass at the moment for ewes with lambs at foot and lambing the remainder of the flock.

I thought the children would be fascinated by this and I'm sure they will be. I like the education side and promoting agriculture so I thought I could put some information boards in the field with facts on that the children could read at break time if they wished and if the school were really keen I could answer questions etc. as this was farming on their doorstep. So Mother went in, whilst picking up my sister and just mentioned it to the receptionist and then the headteacher.

The response - apparently negative "I wouldn't of thought so" and mutters of health and safety/will they escape/have you extra fencing/germs and disease etc.

Couldn't believe it? For a country school as well? I guess I thought they would be really keen and found the opposite. I just think what a shame this is and how do we promote farming in schools? I'm sure there are many that are really pro active but many perhaps mention nothing of food and farming at all and youngsters are really receptive at this age.

Is food production and farming really not important anymore that it does not need to be taught? I think it's very important personally and came away thinking - why do I bother?

 

[Old Boar]

It is not that the children would not be interested - I am sure many of them would be fascinated and the memory of the lambs would be with them for a long time. The teachers are told what to teach and when to teach and how to teach - and then the children and the teachers are tested and the school judged. There is very little room for innovation, to the detrement to the children.

 

[Kevtherev]

Education is not what it once was.
Very sad state of affairs in uk

 

[thatlldaespot]

Oh dear, how depressing. I'd have loved that when I was at school - we used to go for nature walks on sunny afternoons in the summer, and learned about wild flowers and trees and so forth - but I guess these days are gone now, with the advent of elf 'n' safety. A great opportunity missed by that school, I reckon.

 

[Wink]

Have put the sheep in there anyway, so at least they will see them. Your right - the landlords grandchildren saw lambs being born and want to constantly check on the sheep, same as my sister and her friends at the primary school. In my experience children of this age are absolutely fascinated and take in a great deal.

It was not as if I was interfering with the curriculum - I only offered to put up a few farming/sheep related fact boards for the children to read at breaktime through the fence. Then if the school were interested and wanted me to do more I would of.

 

[Old Boar]

I think I would do the fact boards anyway. Let the children decide. If they all go in after break and say "Miss, Miss, what does ewe mean, what does a lamb eat, what what what" then maybe you will be contacted to answer the questions.
I still remember the nature walks - turning over cow pats and seeing the secret world there, learning the names of trees, flowers, insects, playing with slow worms and beetles. This learning has stuck with me for life.

 

[Gone Shooting]

+1 - I was lucky to have a grammar school education - my two boys have gone through very good state schools but just don't seem to have the depth of knowledge as we received - eg us older ones seem to know a more varied amount from Chaucer to geography , Shakespeare to the sciences etc. I'm an old fart ( 59 Monday ! ) or so I am reminded and have probably lost more brain cells than I would like but we seemed to have received a more varied and balanced education . My chemistry teacher blew up the classroom many times , the English lit teachers obsession was for us to sing Jerusalem properly and the physics teacher showed us very old Fangio car racing films but we still passed all of our o levels !

 

[Flintstone]

Wink
Don't be put off. Follow your heart. Even if only one child gets enthused by it, it's one more for the future.

 

[Stuart J]

In Scotland we have a fantastic organisation called the Royal Highland Education Trust. A charity, they have organisers across the country that do a sterling job in bringing the school children to farms or the farms to the children.
They do all the necessary health and safety and risk assessments.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

I did a talk about harvest and growing crops at a full school assembly last year at my children's primary school. Even took a tractor on the playing field. The children and the teachers really enjoyed it.

I was asked by the head if I would do it, it seems it depends who's in charge? We're not in a particulary rural area either.

Ps well done for thinking about it, maybe just put some info up anyway?

 

[Welsh Farmer]

I've had literally thousands of children at my place for farm visits and the children are ALWAYS interested in what's going on ... even the ones who don't want to show to be interested become interested .... so don't place too much store by which ever adult gave you the cold shoulder.

Signs in the field are an excellent idea and good on you for wanting to do this .... crack on with it is my suggestion and good luck to you

 

[Shovelhands]

This is a sad state of affairs

My little girl was going to a local primary, they did a farm visit once in a while, and a forestry school style lesson once a week I think, giving kids a bit of outdoor education, learning about the environment ect ect. I understand that they have now pulled the plug on all that now and don't do any of the above! Very sad for the kids.

It's a long story, but my wife decide to take our girl out of school when my boy was at starting age, and is now home schooling both of them. She takes them out and about, there never home!, has organised many outdoor activities for them and has also got a farm visits going at a local farm, and has got many other home schoolers involved aswell. It's early days and it may not be forever, but it's going well so far and the kids are thriving....we will see how it goes long term...........

Wink, well done for thinking about making the effort, if you are not now too disheartened then do the info boards anyway as others have suggested, what harm can it do.

 

[Juggler]

Last Sunday we had visitors in the form of relatively new urban incomer neighbours with their daughter her husband and 3 yr old boy.
They left absolutely ecstatic having bottle fed lambs, seen lambs with their mothers and had a ride in a tractor.
Oh..and tea and a cake .
Win win.

 

[Kevtherev]

When I was in school it was the old type of teaching pencil and paper job and the three Rs.
Now it's all iPads and a political correct way of teaching.

 

[GenuineRisk]

As said above, well done for thought, go ahead with boards anyway and see what unfolds. Sounds like your school is manned by staff who only want to do the minimum, sadly. Unlucky.

My 2yo grandson goes to Nursery three days a week in Bovingdon (while his (non-farming) parents work in London), a semi rural ish area. God knows how they have got away with all the extra paperwork that must be involved but they have a little 'farm' attached to the nursery, with chickens, goats etc and, as a result, Edward, my grandson, is completely at home with animals of all shapes and sizes and already tractor obsessed. Thankfully, down here, our local primary school is rural and proud of it, with a decent percentage of children from local farming families attending and agriculture is woven into the curriculum as a matter of course.

 

[Martin Holden]

It is a crying shame that modern society has come to this. I sympathise with schools having to be so wary of the litigious times we live in; this stopping so many activities! HSE is important but taken to its 'nth degree, you wouldn't do anything. Look at our own trade - working demonstrations of farm machinery could so easily not happen as it's impossible to make it 100% safe

 

[itsalwaysme]

Are you sure it's not just the teachers who are "townies", most seem to commute miles to work these days, maybe they need educating as well

 

[llamedos]

As others have said, go ahead with the boards, if you are RT assured ask them for some marketing material too http://assurance.redtractor.org.uk/marketing-toolkit
I would even write to the schools board of governors, not to complain, just to explain why you have done what you have.

 

[CrevisbigX]

Moved my son to another school 6wks ago even though it a rural town the school is in the heart of town. They want us to set up some chickens, goats and some sheep and lambs also there a large garden which they want help setting up to grow Vegetables for the pupils.
It seem they very keen to get the message through were our food comes from.

 

[Muck Spreader]

Are you sure it's not just the teachers who are "townies", most seem to commute miles to work these days, maybe they need educating as well

You are right, there is a massive change in the social structure in most villages nowadays. When I was growing up the teachers lived in or around the village as did the policeman, doctor, vicar etc, and the majority of the residents worked locally, and they all knew your parents. Some folk today can live in a village for ten years and nobody knows them and they are barely missed when they move on.