Has your child visited a farm this year?
27 August 2010
Combining the One Million Children Outdoors programme with Educational Access Farms
Meg Hart © Paul Keene, Avico
More school children will have a better understanding of farming and the environment this year, as FACE (Farming & Countryside Education) with support from Natural England will be encouraging more school children to visit farms in the South East as part of a new project.
Supported by the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the National Farmers Union, FACE works to help young people learn more about food and farming in a sustainable countryside. By providing schools with transport bursaries and introducing them to their local farmers, Natural England and FACE are hoping to provide a good boost in the numbers of children visiting educational access farms in the South East between September 2010 and March 2011.
Jenny Crook, Natural England’s Education Specialist in the South East, says: “Our One Million Children Outdoors programme aims to get children out on to farms and wildlife areas. This new project with FACE will help more children to gain a greater understanding of the countryside and to have the opportunity of learning how their food is produced. Seeing crops and farm animals is an important part of creating a greater awareness of the natural environment. These visits will also encourage children to learn more about farming and wildlife, as well as getting plenty of fresh air and exercise. This will support both their education and their wellbeing.”
This project will work by giving schools a subsidy to help towards the cost of transport as this can be a barrier for many schools when planning trips out. The project will be particularly focussed on areas where there is a lack of greenspace, poor health performance and low incomes, and where there are low numbers of farm and countryside visits taking place.
Meg Hart, consultant for FACE, says: “There is no doubt that food and farming can help to provide the essentials for learning and life. This is an ideal moment for us to work with primary schools in a positive and constructive way to unlock the minds and hearts of their pupils.”
The farms taking part in the project have all signed up to Environmental Stewardship schemes and are managing their land to benefit both their farm businesses and wildlife. The farmers have chosen to take part in an Educational Access scheme option where they are encouraged to offer educational visits for schools and other groups free of charge. Many of the farmers have received training and accreditation through the CEVAS course to advise them on how to work with schools and how to link the visits to the National Curriculum.
If you are a teacher and would like to know more about farm visits as part of this project please contact Meg Hart at FACE. Her email is: meg@face-online.org.uk .
ENDS
For further information, please contact Jenny Crook on 01844 351833 or email at jenny.crook@naturalengland.org.uk, or John Rennie from Natural England’s communications team on 0300 060 2616 or email at john.rennie@naturalengland.org.uk
Notes to Editors
Natural England is the government’s independent adviser on the natural environment. Established in 2006 our work is focused on enhancing England’s wildlife and landscapes and maximising the benefits they bring to the public.
We establish and care for England’s main wildlife and geological sites, ensuring that over 4,000 National Nature Reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest are looked after and improved.
We work to ensure that England’s landscapes are effectively protected, designating England’s National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Marine Conservation Zones, and advising widely on their conservation.
We run Environmental Stewardship and other green farming schemes which deliver over £400 million a year to farmers and landowners, enabling them to enhance the natural environment across two thirds of England’s farmland.
We fund, manage, and provide scientific expertise for hundreds of conservation projects each year, improving the prospects for thousands of England’s species and habitats.
We promote access to the wider countryside, helping establish National Trails and coastal trails and ensuring that the public can enjoy and benefit from them.
With our One Million Children Outdoors programme, Natural England is working on a range of projects to encourage an interest in, and understanding of, the natural environment amongst school children. We want one million children between the ages of 4 and 16 to have the opportunity to enjoy nature and the natural environment.
For more information see http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/gettinginvolved/default.aspx . Our main website is www.naturalengland.org.uk
Farming and Countryside Education (FACE), based in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, has over 80 membership organisations which have a commitment to educational work associated with food, farming and the countryside. See its website www.face-online.org.uk
