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Enhancing education through sustainable farming, promoting wellbeing and eco-awareness. An innovative curriculum approach fostering lifelong skills development in partnership with Edible Estates.
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Canal View Primary School Farm
Boosting learning and engagement across the curriculum • Providing innovative ways to teach pupils about wellbeing and green issues • Holistic approach across the curriculum • Lifelong skill development
Working in Partnership with Edible Estates Introduction Edible Estates are working with Canal View Primary School to establish a School Farm in the grounds of the School. Edible Estates are participating in the project on a not-for-profit basis and are keen to develop School Farm model as a pilot to promote across other schools in Edinburgh. The revenue costs of the project is largely funded by the Pupil Equity Fund which will run for the 2018/9 and 2019/20 school years. Supplemental capital and revenue funding (e.g. for the construction of the farm shed), is provided by Edible Estates through a variety of funders including the People and Communities Fund and the Climate Challenge Fund. Four classes at Canal View School are participating in the project (Primary 6 and 7s). The teachers participate in the School Farm sessions and co-operate with the School Farm workers to tie the activities at the Farm with curriculum goals. Edible Estates provides School Farm staff are installing site infrastructure, the illustration above shows the layout of the School Farm. The shed will house all the tools for the management of the Farm, it will have ramps on either side of the veranda ease access. The outside raised beds (green) will be used for growing field crops, whilst the curved flower beds will grow perennial flowers for sale. Outside of the flower beds, we will establish blackcurrants and raspberry drills. The shed and additional elements will be completed before the end of the Autumn term.
School Farm Model We deliver four School Farm sessions a week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with two Primary 6 classes, and two Primary 7 classes. The four classes have already attended School Farm in the 2017/18 Spring Term. Each session is 1.5 hours with classes of up to 31 children in each class. We teach children about pollination, planting, transplanting, soil conditions, harvesting, drying and storing seeds, herbs, propagating, netting etc, and the different wildlife that can be found in a garden and what the effect they have on plants. The aims of School Farm are:- - to teach the children to grow fruit and vegetables and tie this into the School Curriculum, providing practical experience of topics the children are learning in the classroom; - to provide non curriculum activities where the children can learn practical skills, learn to work in a team, communicate with their peers, take responsibility and a place where everyone is equal. Additionally Edible Estates will support in developing community links as follows:- - connect with local children to support the development of Murrayburn & Hailesland Edible Estates project; - incorporate School Farm into its outputs for the Edible Estate’s Climate Challenge Fund project by creating new food growing space, teaching children how to grow, cook, avoid food waste and raise awareness about climate change. Following discussions with the school, we have decided to develop and manage the School Farm around two projects ideas; ‘Market Garden’ and ‘School Dinners’ (working title).
School Gardeners – 1.5. days • Edible Estates The Beginning: Identifying a Two Year Rotational Plan
Market Garden: A sustainable model based around the school year. The premise of the Market Garden project is that the children will grow produce to sell either within the school or through external outlets. The children are growing crops/plants, and devise a marketing strategy for sale. Edible Estates recommended that the farm grows crops that are easily marketed such as potted herbs, salad crops which can be bagged for sale, and flowers which could be grown either in pots or as cut flowers. Edible Estates supported us to develop a growing plan around the Market Garden project, described in outline below. During the Autumn term, pupils will work with the School Gardeners to harvest all the produce from the polytunnel, then preparing the beds for sowing of successional salads and micro-greens. The salad leaves should be ready for the first cropping by the end of September, and will continue to crop until the end of October. Salads & Field Crops During the winter term, the Primary 7 classes will devise a marketing strategy around the salads and microgreens. A visit to the Cyrenians Farm in Kirknewton to look at a working market gardenwas organised to further support understanding. When the salads are ready for cropping (September), the pupils will harvest them, package them and sell them, this will continue up to the end of October. At the end of the Autumn Term (November/December), we will start the sowing the field crops including broad beans and onions, this will continue through the Spring and Summer terms, with the harvest starting in earnest in Autumn term 2019/20. Flowers We will start planting flowers in the Autumn and Spring terms, and will harvest them starting in Spring right through to the Autumn term 2019/20. Again a marketing plan will need to be prepared for selling starting with the daffodil, tulips and helabors from March onwards. The flowers will be planted in single species beds around the school farm, and in mixed beds around the dining hall on the South side of the school.
School Dinners (working title) Alongside Market Garden, the school and Edible Estates are working together to develop a School Dinners project. The Farm will grow crops which the pupils would prepare food for the school. This project idea will be further developed in partnership with the children. Edible Estates will incorporate workshops on the impacts of food on climate change, such as choosing local and seasonable food, more vegetables and pulses, avoiding processed foods and food waste. We will start harvesting significant quantities of crops in the Spring Term with even greater quantities expected in the Autumn term 2019/20. The children will draw on previous experience from the market garden to support them in creating and developing this. School Dinners: Curriculum Aims
Managing the Farm: Pupil Roles The process for roles on the farm was treated like a realistic job application. Pupils were provide with key details about the roles, many of which they devised and agreed on, and then had to apply for the roles through a letter of application detailing the skills they would bring and why they would be effective in that role. They were then interviewed as part of this process. Communication between year groups is key. We are looking a the best way of doing this. Each year there will be a handover of roles from Primary 7 to Primary 6. Primary 7 pupils will be involved in the application and interview process of the roles for the following school year. All pupils from Primary 6 will be included in reviewing the Farm, using technical drawing to redesign and change the farm ready for the next school year following evaluation.
A few interesting links for ‘the farm’. https://www.foodforlife.org.uk/~/media/files/resources/ffl%20school%20resources/farm%20links/8-weeks-to-bronze_october-2015.pdf http://www.jamiesfarm.org.uk/uploads/Jamies-Farm-Brochure.pdf http://www.farmtoschool.org/Resources/Getting%20Started%20with%20Farm%20to%20School.pdf http://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/getting-started-with-farm-to-school https://www.thefarmschoolinitiative.com/ Kirknewton - Potential visit to look at roles on a working farm http://www.nourishscotland.org/ Source food from Cyrenians farm to be cooking healthy food from the https://cyrenians.scot/community-and-food/good-food/farm/veg-bags/
