Year of Food and Farming in Education

1
Year of Food and Farming in Education

• September 2007 to July 2008

2
What is the Year all about?

• Linking together key government agendas around
• learning outside the classroom
• healthier school meals
• developing healthier lifestyles
• sustainable farming and food production

3
Who is the Year for?

• Everyone in the food and farming sectors
  including food producers, processors,
  distributors, retailers and caterers.
• All children in all schools (primary, secondary
  and special) in England
• Their teachers, parents and carers
• The wider education sector - colleges, training
  providers, voluntary sector bodies

4
What will it achieve?

• We hope that the Year will result in
• More understanding about the food chain and the
  countryside
• Increased and sustainable links between schools
  and sector
• Healthier lifestyles and better nutrition choices
  
• Production of new, high quality resources
• Greater awareness of careers
• Enjoyment!

5
Organisation

• Patron HRH the Prince of Wales
• Steering Group
• Working Groups
• Education
• Food and Farming
• Communications
• Finance
• Countryside in the Park (3 major events)
• Regional Steering Groups
• Overall Project Manager
• Secretariat hosted by RASE

6
What are our aspirations?

• Primary
• Every pupil will have undertaken a growing
  activity
• Every pupil will have first hand experience of
  food being grown
• Every pupil will have the opportunity to prepare
  at least one food plate

7
What are our aspirations?

• Secondary
• Every pupil will have taken part in a countryside
  activity
• Every pupil will have the opportunity to
  undertake work-related activities

8
What are our aspirations?

• Schools
• Every teacher is aware of the curriculum
  opportunities
• Every school will be participating in local food
  procurement initiatives
• Every school will be promoting healthy living
  through experience of food, farming and the
  countryside

9
Scale of task ahead
Number of schools and pupils in
England Nursery 455 37,000 Primary
17,504 4,418,950 Secondary 3,367 3,306,780 Spe
cial 1,105 89,390 Other 2,748
363,570 Total 25,179 8,215,690
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Why will schools be interested?
Context of the experience e.g. curriculum
requirements
Context of the location e.g. working farm
Professional development e.g. learning from
experience
Good learning design e.g. novel teaching
strategies or ideas
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What are schools interested in?

• Resources and activities that
• would otherwise be difficult to deliver
• are credible i.e. by teachers, for teachers
• clearly fit into the curriculum
• help raise attainment
• are easy to access (universal marketing, single
  source)
• are available across the country
• remove barriers to participation (cost, HS,
  time, expertise of a facilitator)
• can be written into long term plans (not
  one-offs)

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What is already being offered?

• Pledges
• Current and new activity being offered by
  individual national or regional organisations and
  businesses
• Opportunities will be placed into themes and
  marketed to schools
• Examples include
• BPC Grow Your Own Potatoes,
• CLA Regional Food Advocates
• CFE / FACE / Natural England support materials
  for shows and events
• Devon EBP and Show Society Food Miles Challenge

13
New developments

• Specialist Schools and Academies Trust organising
  an Award Scheme
• Levy Boards / British Nutrition Foundation
  developing primary curriculum materials for Food
  a fact of life website
• School Farms Network and DfES producing detailed
  advice on setting up a school farm
• HTI proposal to offer secondments between schools
  and rural businesses

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What else is required?

• Example School Food and Farming Champions
• In partnership with the Citizenship Foundation
• School champions put forward by individual
  schools to take part in regionally organised
  training programme about food and farming
• Champions then recognised for their achievements
  at a national event.
• Resourcing required for development and promotion
  of scheme in schools, provision of training
  programme (location etc could be in kind)
• Support required to participate in training
  programme

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What can you offer?

• Locations for visits
• Speakers and facilitators
• Professional development opportunities
• New resources or activities
• Work focussed learning including placements
• Access to relevant qualifications