SCHOOL FARMS

The ultimate Growing Idea is, of course, a school farm. This is a great time for school farms with more school farms opening than closing - a welcome reverse in trend - and numbers now up to 74 across the country. School farms are enjoying high profile endorsement. Look at what HRH Prince Charles had to say at the Food For Life Partnership Awards in December:

"There was some research published at the beginning of the Year of Food and Farming, of which I was patron, by Dr Aric Sigman which showed that children who have contact with Nature score higher on tests of concentration and self-discipline; that exposure to natural environments improves children's cognitive development and that schools with outdoor education programmes have better academic results and classroom behaviour.
This, I can only say, is one of the reasons I have for so long been such a committed supporter of school farms. For those that find academic studies more of a struggle, they learn practical skills and they also tend to respond extremely positively to working with farm animals. The great thing is that every child can be a success at something and this gives an enormous sense of self-confidence and self-worth." Hide this.

You can find out more about school farms by going to the School Farms Network or by clicking on the case studies below:

• Warriner
• Oathall

GREY COURT SCHOOL FARM

Over the past 12 months, School Food Matters has been supporting Grey Court School in Ham to put together a proposal for the introduction of a school farm into their school grounds. SFM is part of Grey Court's School Farm Steering Group that meets regularly to help move this exciting project forward.

The steering group has prepared a flyer to inform parents and local residents about the school farm. Click here to download a copy and WATCH THIS SPACE to see how the project develops.