Eastfield Primary School

Leicester

The creation of

Eastfield School Farm

Before the farm

• High proportion of economically deprived households.

• Large school grounds including two fields.• Staff who are committed to improving the

lives of the children they teach.• Support from only a few parents.

• 200+ primary school on the outskirts of Leicester City but in the county.

• Eastfield School convert part of their field to three small gardens for the KS 1 children to grow vegetables.

Eastfield School Farm Timeline

Summer 2003

Eastfield school decided to provide a home for two chickens and two rabbits

Autumn 2005

Winter 2006

• We plant four fruit trees in the memory of a colleague

Spring 2007

• In the spring of 2007 the school took the decision to set up a school farm to run alongside the year of food and farming.• The farm needed to be self funding from

grants, fundraising and sponsorship.• The farm was for the wider community not

just the children and staff of the school.• Staff needed to show that the farm would

help the children understand about food production and help their education.

Our goals for the farm• To improve the children's understanding of where their

food comes from.• To get them to develop a healthier lifestyle by thinking

about what they eat and how it is produced.• To give the children who are not academic a real

purpose and responsibility in school by enabling them to gain an interest in farming and the farming industry.

• To help the children understand animal welfare and the role of farming in society today.

• To bring the community into our school through parental and community help.

• We did a food survey in school to show where the children thought their food came from.

• 5th of the schools children were surveyed about food and food production.

• Results were interesting.• Most children did not know what animals gave us

bacon.• The third most popular answer for the question,

What animals can give us cheese was…..

Mice!!!!

Food survey in school

Summer 2007• We homed six battery hens from sunrise

eggs and three chickens and a cockerel from another school.

What did we do then?• The head teacher and another member of staff

went on a school farms course.• An “Awards for all” grant was applied for to

fund the setup and running of the school farm for one year.

• The school enlisted the help of parents and the community to get the project off the ground.

• The school extended their garden beds to include KS2 who started to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers.

September 2007• Year of food and farming starts and the school

farm receives a grant from Awards for all to fund the farm for one year.

• Building work is commissioned straight away for a new pig house, fencing and sheds for storage.

• A new chicken coop is brought and the number of chickens is increased with a donation of six Sussex whites / leghorn cross.

Where are we now?

• We have two large black pigs.• These pigs are to be kept till July 2008 when they will go to

slaughter.

• All the children understand that our farm is there to produce food, not as a petting zoo.

• We have found that the children are more able to understand this than their parents!

The farm is up and running!

Where are we now?

• We have 2 Hartlines ewes which have both given birth at the school this spring! The new arrivals were one boy and one girl.

• They will go back to the ram and their lambs will be sold at market in the summer.

Poultry

• We now have nineteen chickens including 6 bantams and five leghorn / Sussex white crosses.

• The children feed them and collect the eggs every day.

• We also have two apricot call ducks.

• We are hatching their eggs in an incubator.

• Each KS2 class looks after the large animals for one day a week.

• The KS1 and Foundation children look after the rabbits and poultry each week.

• The parents and children look after the animals every weekend and during the school holidays.

Who looks after the animals?

Farming club• Over 50 children have

attended farm club on Wednesday nights after school.

• We have fantastic parental support with different parents turning up every Wednesday night to help.

The future• The poly tunnel is being built at the moment

and will be up and running in time for national science week and planting time.

• Four more pigs to be purchased in September with the profits from the sale of meat and eggs.

• The school will have produce sales throughout the summer term.

• We are looking to purchase two rare breed sheep.

• The school is to expand its numbers of chickens and ducks to improve egg production.

Fundraising• The sale of eggs and

produce from the gardens helps to pay for the animals food.

• The meat from the pigs will be sold to the parents and staff at the school.

• The school is holding a summer fete to raise money for the farm.

Have we achieved our goals?

• The answer is that we are getting there...• The children at school have a better

understanding of where their food comes from and what animals give us.

• All the children have taken ownership of the school farm and the animals. They are very proud of it, as are their parents.

• In a number of cases staff have noticed healthier lunchboxes.

Have we achieved out goals?

• More parents are helping on the farm and purchasing free range eggs and produce from our sales.

• The farm is becoming self funding. We will make enough money this year to continue our project.

• The community is more involved in all areas of school life not just the farm. This is because they have a way into school life that is non academic.

No animals were harmed during the making of this presentation