Milestone Education Event Enjoyed By Thousands Of Schoolchildren
Thousands of schoolchildren swapped classrooms for the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, to take learning outdoors in the company of farm animals, huge agricultural machinery and birds of prey.
All things farming, food and the countryside were explored by around 4,000 primary school pupils from across Yorkshire during a packed programme of interactive workshops and arena displays at the 25th edition of Countryside Days (19-20 May) organised by charity, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Countryside Days takes place over two days and is free to attend for primary schools throughout the region, to broaden children’s understanding of where food comes from and how the countryside is managed.
Allister Nixon, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) said: “The Society is proud to have celebrated 25 years of our flagship education event, with so many inquisitive schoolchildren. Hopefully, there are now people who attended Countryside Days who have gone on to enjoy rewarding careers in agriculture, but the success of this event is every child leaving here having learned something new about, and having been inspired by, farming, food and the countryside.”
At a soil station, children learned all about how worms transport precious nutrients around soil, providing the building blocks for crops to grow. They met sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, alpacas and ferrets, took a look inside tractor cabs and had a go at milking a ‘cow’ and making their own sausages. Potato harvesting, the stories of flour and beef, British wool and deer spotting were among the many topics explored across 50 workshops.
Schoolchildren from Richard Taylor Primary School, Harrogate were among the visitors. Headteacher Andrew Symonds, who has brought pupils to Countryside Days for 24 years and who is retiring this summer, said: “All of the children here are so engaged, and they are connecting that our food comes from people who are totally devoted to the land and their animals. It is such a powerful day, the highlight of the year for us.”
Sponsorship from ASDA and Co-op helped a number of schools from areas with socio-economic challenges to attend Countryside Days by contributing towards their transport costs.
Joe Prosho, Head of Sustainable Sourcing & Agriculture at ASDA said: “As a Yorkshire founded food business, we’re delighted to work with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and support Countryside Days, helping to connect children with the importance of how their food is produced.”
Joseph Keating, Senior Agriculture & Fisheries Manager at Co-op said: “We’re proud to support Countryside Days, it gives young people a hands-on look at farming and helps them understand where their food really comes from. For Co-op, it’s a practical way of supporting education, backing British agriculture, and helping the next generation better understand the role farming plays in everyday life.”
YAS welcomes schools back to the Showground for the Great Yorkshire Show on Tuesday 14 – Friday 17 July. School bookings are discounted, with free places available for accompanying teachers subject to group size. School bookings close at 12noon on Friday 26 June and are available from https://greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/school-visits/
The Great Yorkshire Show hosts the final of the Society’s popular Schools Veg Box competition, headline sponsored by ASDA. Primary school pupils who have grown vegetables from seed will display their veg boxes in the Show’s Discovery Zone, with the winners revealed at the Garden Show Marquee on Wednesday 15 July at 1pm.
As a registered charity, YAS is committed to improving the public’s understanding of farming, particularly children and it organises various events and activities for schools and teachers throughout the academic year.
New for this year is Agritunity, a free careers taster day for secondary schools at the Great Yorkshire Showground on Wednesday 7 October, 10am-3.30pm. Open to Years 8-13, school groups will explore careers options in agricultural science, skills and enterprise, with the event closely linked to the national curriculum. Schools are invited to express their interest in attending by Monday 8 June. See https://yas.co.uk/agritunity/
Apple Day, on Wednesday 21 October, will see schoolchildren visit the Showground’s orchard. Free training courses are offered to teachers throughout the year to encourage outdoor learning. The Society also funds visits to working farms via the Country Trust and schools can apply to a small grants scheme to help fund relevant initiatives. For more details, visit https://yas.co.uk/education/
