Kids Country brings ‘soil to sandwich’ journey of wheat to primary school in Tooting
East of England-based education initiative, Kids Country, was thrilled to extend its food and farming programme into London, with a virtual lesson from Fenland-based arable farmer, Farmer Luke, and a range of creative resources for years four and five at Broadwater Primary School, Tooting, London.
Kids Country is the educational arm of the East of England Agricultural Society and education manager, Sandra Lauridsen, commented: “Working with a London school is a first for us and a very welcome one as we know these children are the consumers of the future, and also potential new entrants for the agricultural and food industries.
“It is often very hard for inner-city children to have hands-on experiences of farming and where food comes from, but with the support of our local potato and combinable crops farmer, Farmer Luke, we were able to put together resources and a live virtual lesson on the ‘soil to sandwich’ journey of wheat to support the school’s ‘Fabulous Food’ discovery topic this term.
“Broadwater Primary School has hoped to arrange a farm visit this term to support the learning of their pupils and reached out to us when it became apparent that this would not be possible,” added Sandra. The event was also supported by Farmer James of Park Farm Thorney, Peterborough, who helped put together an educational video about wheat production in the UK.
Miss Norma Nelson, teacher at Broadwater Water Primary Schools, said: “It has been such a delight seeing this through from our first telephone call with Sandra, the resources provided were very impressive and the whole process of planning this with Sandra was very swift and well organised.
“On the day it was great for Farmer Luke to be able to reinforce the farm to fork message and how important it is to shop for locally grown produce wherever possible, as well as growing things at home. Once again, thank you for enabling the children to have experienced such an amazing event!”
Children from years four and five at Broadwater Primary School, Tooting, learn about the soil to sandwich journey of wheat
With a programme of events that usually sees East of England Showground-based Kids Country welcoming thousands of primary school children on to site, the last 12 months has presented a real challenge to deliver as many of these events as possible either remotely in schools or as part of home-schooling, ensuring that children do not miss out on the ‘field to fork’ message that lies at the heart of everything Kids Country delivers. The team have also tried to reach as many new schools as possible by supporting schools’ own topics and projects with bespoke events and resources.
“We have been really pleased to work with schools to find solutions to their own projects, and this is something we are committed to continuing throughout 2021 and further,” continued Sandra. Any schools that are interested in Kids Country supporting their topics should contact Sandra on slauridsen@eastofengland.org.uk or visit www.kids-country.co.uk
