Educational project offers schools ewe-nique learning experience
We once again teamed up with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, Chapelfield Veterinary Partnership and the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association to help young people learn about livestock!
This exciting project offers schools the chance to look after ewes and their lambs on school grounds, for one whole week. Students are able to get up close with the animals, feeding and caring for them, and for many students that take part this is their very first opportunity to get so close to livestock. Many of our wonderful livestock lenders, who are all members of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, visited schools to talk about their animals and about their work. This year we had many breeds involved in the project including southdowns, greyface dartmoors, norfolk horns, borerays and ryelands. Click the links if you’d like to learn more about these amazing breeds!
The project, generously sponsored by The Clan Trust, aims to give young people the opportunity to interact with livestock, learn about farming and its practices and to generate enthusiasm for local farming. This is the third year the hugely popular project has run and it was expanded to include twenty schools across Norfolk, from King Lynn to Gorleston-on-Sea. Schools are provided with all the equipment they need to care for the animals and teacher attend a comprehensive briefing, to prepare them for the project and ensure they adhere to the very best health and safety and husbandry practices.
Gail Sprake, member of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and an advisory group member for the FFDT, is the driving force behind the project. Gail says:
“Learn about Livestock is a unique project giving youngsters an opportunity to get up close to real farm livestock. To touch, feel, watch and care for their ‘own’ ewes and lambs for a whole week is an unforgettable experience, connecting young people with farming and food, and opening a tiny window into another way of life. For us livestock lenders it is a thoroughly worthwhile, and humbling, experience.”
Jade Hunter, Deputy Headteacher from West Earlham Infant and Nursery School who have taken part in the project previously, says:
“The ‘Learn about Livestock’ project provides our children with the opportunity to get up close and personal with the lamb and ewe over the course of the week. The opportunity not only gives our children the chance to learn about caring for the animals, but it also improves their confidence in exploring new experiences, supports their communication when talking about their learning and gives them the chance to really nurture the animals. We build this opportunity into all areas of our curriculum to ensure it has real purpose and meaning for the children.”
You can read more about West Earlham Infant and Nursery School’s experience of the project here, find out what pupils at Mundford Church of England Primary School learnt about here and see some wonderful photos from Alpington & Bergh Primary School here.