Our School Farm
Our Story
We began our school farm project during the first lockdown by developing a spacious vegetable patch which gave us a very bountiful harvest in the first summer. This then grew to include a large chicken run which our year 6 children helped to construct. Our first 8 chickens arrived in the September 2020 rescued from a free range farm looking rather sorry for themselves. After lots of love and care they grew to their full strength and are now living a happy life. Our farm has now expanded to home large flocks of hens and ducks, 14 of which we hatched ourself and 3 rabbits, 2 sheep and 6 pigs. We also have designated growing zones for each class to develop across the year.
Our Approach
We believe that our children should have access to an engaging and embedded outdoor curriculum as a part of their Ludgvan School experience. The implementation of this is three fold: a well-stocked garden and nature area; an on-site Forest School and our own school farm. Each area provides opportunities for a different set of skills that are vital to our children’s education and preparation for later life:
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Ludgvan Farm – learning animal care skills which can be applied at home with pets, on local farms or in potential future careers. Children gain financial acumen through growing and collecting produce and then using or selling it and calculating the profit/loss and costs involved. Empathy is one of our core values and the animals are a real-life demonstration about how caring for others can make a difference.
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Ludgvan Garden – learning how to farm and live sustainably is hugely important in the current climate and a knowledge base that will stand all children in good stead in their later life. An understanding of why looking after our environment is important and we must learn to live alongside nature within our community.
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Ludgvan Forest School – The ability to light fires, tie knots and build shelters and valuable life skills that prepare children for a variety of situations they may experience throughout their lives. Team building is a valuable benefit to working together in an outdoor environment and benefits children in all aspects of their education and wider endeavours.
Life On The Farm
The farm is overseen by Mr Richards, however, the day to day running is currently done by our year children. Our year 6 Head Farmers are Hannah and Imogen and our Deputy Head Farmers are Anna and Sofija. They are supported by their team of animal carers who are assigned half-termly in each class.
Responsibility is a key part of learning on the farm. Each of our classes are assigned a different type of animal to take care of. All children have the opportunity to be assigned as an animal carer for their class animal. They take on providing the care on a set day each week for a half term, with the opportunity to repeat this during the year if they wish. The animals are assigned as follows:
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EYFS - Guinea Pigs
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Year 1 - Chickens
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Year 2 - Sheep
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Year 3 - Rabbits
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Year 4 - Pigs
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Year 5 - Ducks
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Year 6 - Shetland Pony
The children take responsibility in ensuring the highest quality of care is provided to our animals by making sure they have food and water at all times, cleaning out the pens, regularly completing health checks and providing stimulation.
It's important to us that the farm teaches our pupils the role farming plays in the wider community and the world. Our farm is run as a business enterprise - all produce from the farm is sold to cover the running costs. Produce includes eggs, vegetables and meat raised on the farm.
Sustainability
Sustainability is at the heart of our school farm. We view this as something that should be thought of as a way of life, enabling children to become responsible global citizens. The purpose of our school farm is to teach our children the importance of a sustainable planet. This involves how to care for animals, both domestic and local wildlife. It also involves the understanding of plants, growing fruit and vegetables from seed, building valuable life skills which help to reduce reliance on industrial farming operations which have a high ecological footprint. Our children will have the knowledge to create a greener world.
