Kids Country, an education programme for children from across the East of England and managed by the East of England Agricultural Society, visited: The Bellbird Primary, Cambridge; Hampton Primary School, Peterborough; Kirkstone House School, South Lincolnshire.
Helen Dutton, Year 2 teacher at The Bellbird Primary School, said: “The Kids Country team were friendly and organised, and the children had such an enjoyable time.”
At Kirkstone House School, Jane Ramsay said: “The event met our curriculum objectives by teaching the children about farming and how crops are grown.”
The Kids Countr
y team were supported by dedicated volunteers, farmers and food businesses. Leading the ‘All about pigs’ and sausage tasting was the Ladies in Pigs team, whilst Farmer Luke took charge of the popular ‘metre square’ zone, where farming is scaled down for children to better understand what can be grown in a field by looking at what can grow in a metre square of soil. Farmers James Burgess and Peter Sharpley, as well as Ken Beard from Pecks ensured that there was a tractor in the playground of each school too.
Co-operative Central England and Farmer Thomas Beazley kindly supplied the sausages, Marriages Flour donated all of the flour for pancake making, and Vine House Farm the eggs.
Sandra Lauridsen, education manager at the East of England Agricultural Society, commented: “Breakfast is such an important part of the day, especially for children who have so much to learn, so learning about not only where and how breakfast ingredients are grown here in the UK by our wonderful British farmers, but also equipping them with the knowledge to make ‘healthy choices’ for a breakfast that packs a nutritious punch, is so important.
“Our Breakfast with Kids Country events have always been so well received, and we thank all the schools for welcoming us back in November. We are really looking forward to getting into more 
schools in the region in January with this event. Thank you to all of the volunteers and food companies that help make this event happen, we couldn’t do it without you.”
If you would like to be involved in any way in future Kids Country food and farming events, either as a school, corporate or individual volunteer, or to sponsor Kids Country to help more schools experience the hands-on and memorable learning that Kids Country offers, please contact slauridsen@eastofengland.org.uk
To keep up to date with upcoming Kids Country events and the new 2023-24 academic year programme, you can also visit: https://www.eastofengland.org.uk/kids-country/ or follow the East of England Agricultural Society on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.
