Education

Rowdefield Farm offers educational visits and talks to schools and colleges from a wide area, and children of many ages.

Education

The Farm's classroom is equipped with full presentation facilities enabling practical sessions to be undertaken indoors, and students are also introduced to real farm animals and modern farming methods around the farmyard.

Educational Visits

Farm tours are available by prior booking for any age group, further or higher education groups to study aspects of the school curriculum or college courses. Guiding farm walks by groups of any sort can be arranged, to learn about the farming industry, its relationship with the countryside and the measures being taken on the farm to conserve and enhance wildlife, landscape and historical features.

Talks or visits can be arranged around a topic chosen and generally rely on practical involvement by the learners as much as possible.

A small number of poultry, sheep and goats are kept for educational purposes. Visitors can have the chance to look round a range of modern farm machinery, grain drying and storage buildings, meet the pygmy goats and sheep and collect eggs from the free range hens.

School based projects may be based on the farm by arrangement. A Teachers Information Pack is available upon request.

Staff: John Butler spent 10 years teaching agriculture, business and plant and soil science at Lackham College and is qualified to Masters degree level with a Certificate in Education. Luke Sartin has a National Diploma in Farm Mechanisation from Lackham College.

Pupils will typically be able to:

Examine crop seed and their uses
Extract oil from oilseed rape seeds
Grind wheat and sieve it to make flour
Compare and select different animal feeding stuffs
Follow the process of growing crops through to drying and storing them in the grain store
Examine and compare livestock breeds
Milk our life size model cow
Feed the chickens and collect the eggs
Feed and learn about sheep and goats
Handle newly hatched chicks and ducks
Handle newly born lambs and kids
Sit on a tractor
See how a grain drier works
Grade eggs into different sizes
Calculate weights and quantities of milk and grain