In this week’s FoodFutures column, Olivia Grundy reflects on the first set of school visits at Summerhouse Community Farm in Lancaster…
This spring the gates of Summerhouse Community Farm opened to local primary school students for the very first time.
During May, June and July, over 300 children from schools across the Lancaster District and their teaching staff came to discover the site and envision what the farm could become in the years ahead.
The visits were designed not only to introduce the children to the farm but to encourage them to see themselves as part of its future.
Through a whole-site biodiversity hunt, the children searched for insects, birds and other signs of wildlife.
Once they had become familiar with the site, their creative juices were let loose as they began to imagine how the farm could evolve into a thriving place for wildlife, food growing and community learning.
The most positive thing to come out of the children’s feedback was the desire to learn more about growing food.
The school staff also echoed the desire to have places for children to grow food and experience harvesting, suggesting curriculum links to cooking and design technology.
Mrs Watson, year 3 teacher at Morecambe Bay Primary School who attended the trips, said: “It was a really positive experience for our children, and gave them an opportunity to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to.
“It was great to see links to the curriculum and what we have been studying in class”.
All of the children said that they would love to be able to visit with their friends and family, which shows how much they enjoyed the trip.
The children are set to return in the autumn for another round of visits.
It will be exciting to show them how much the market garden has come on and for them to see other developments such as the new hot water tap, seed sowing station and rabbit proof fence. In total, the same children will get to visit the farm three more times between now and next spring, meaning that they will have been able to see the changes in the site in every season and track its development over the course of a whole year.
