Ideas for teaching sessions at Mount Pleasant School Farm September 2016 – July 2017
Every visit is adapted to your specific requirements for learning outcomes, age range and abilities. In addition to hands – on feeding of some of the farm animals, you can choose to link your visit to the following areas of study and thus meet target criteria for many aspects of the curriculum
Cross Curricular
- Food and Farming (All Key Stages)
Where our food comes from, different types of farm, Food Miles etc - Aspects of the EYFS framework (2014) in particular ELG 14 The world which mentions comparisons between a child’s own immediate environment and different environments (the farm), also making observations of animals and plants
Spiritual,Moral,Social & Cultural Development (SMSC)
- Spiritual: Different faiths have different attitudes and ceremonies relating to certain animals
- Moral: Helping pupils to understand the need to treat animals and each other with care and respect
- Developing an awareness of local and global issues relating to food production and the use of the land and our environment
- Social: working together as a team to feed the animals
- Cultural (including promoting British values): Democracy working together; Mutual respect understanding that our behaviour has an effect on others, both human and animal, and our surroundings
Mathematics (All Key Stages)
- Practical applications of number from as basic a level as counting how many chickens/eggs to studying cows’ milk yields, capacity of the milk vat, price, size & weight of eggs, percentage of hens laying today…
- Geometry – looking at 2D & 3D shapes around the farm
- Collecting data to create tally charts back at school
English, Language & Literacy (All Key Stages)
- Spoken language – asking questions, communicating and clarfying their thinking
- Keywords & Vocabularly relating to the Farm
- Reading and writing non fiction information, including compostion
- Linking to stories e.g. the work of Dick King Smith
Science
- Animals including Human (KS1, KS2)
Observing animals at close hand, the basic needs of farm animals, life cycles of all the animals that live on the farm and how they grow - Identifying carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
- Grouping animals around their body structures
- Teeth & Nutrition (KS2) Farm animals dentitions and diets
- Seasonal changes (KS1) Observing the weather and the seasons on the farm
- Everyday materials (KS1)
Feathers, hair, skin, horn, fleece – and what they can be used for - Living things and their habitats (lower KS2)
Habitats around the farm, interdependence, food chains including farm animals
Design and technology
- Cooking and Nutrition (Ks1,2)
- Understand where food comes from (KS1)
- Identyfing the food groups found on the farm
- food labelling
Geography
- Place knowledge (formerly Town and Country) (FS, KS1)
Features of the rural landscape, buildings, the farmer’s jobs - Investigating the local area
Land use, mapping, simple orienteering - Human and physical geography (KS2)
Land use, economic activity and distribution of natural resources (food)
Cross curricular Environmental Awareness
- We are now a Friend of Eco-Schools. There are many sustainable features a part of the classroom building which can make a useful case study if your school is working towards Eco-Status
- Assessing and Recycling the contents of children’s lunchboxes is a normal part of the day’s activities
- Issues around Food Waste
History
- Impact of the Roman Empire on Britain (the farm stands on a Roman Road to Droitwich)
- Farming comparisons – with Anglo-Saxon settlements
- Achievements of the earliest civilizations – comparisons with farming in Ancient Egypt
Art and Design
- Using a range of materials to create farm animals (KS1)
- Looking at the work of artists and crafts makers who have interpreted farm animals (KS1)
- Observation and drawing of farm animals(KS2)