Farmers seem to get more excited about education than almost any topic (other than farming, of course!). Having recently been at the Oxford Farming Conference where many were keen to share with me their experiences of working with schools, or their theories on how education should work, it is evidently a subject close to the … More Farmers have stickability!
I spent a day last week at the Farm Business Innovation Show, where I was inundated with questions from farmers looking to open up their farm to schoolchildren, or somehow improve their offer to schools. Although the show was about farm diversification, the visitors to the stand were not under the misapprehension that education work … More Farming – the missing link in schools between food and the environment
We often talk about ‘Farm to Fork’ learning – having an appreciation for the whole food chain. Increasingly, it is being described as ‘Lab to Landfill’ – as the research and technological development pre-farm, and the way we consider our whole approach to food, is as important in solving future food challenges, as the work … More Gastropods to Gastronomes
Earlier this week, former Farmers Weekly Arable Farmer of the Year, Guy Poskitt was explaining to me his concerns about how farming can attract the right talent. Chief among them were perception issues – especially that if we keep telling the story of ours being an industry in decline or crisis, then the public will believe … More Have our cake and eat it?
My latest post is a guest blog on the Bayer Crop Science Farming Matters blog.
I have spent the last three days in London at a succession of meetings, and am now stuck here for the next few hours because of flooding on the line (which is as nothing compared to farmers from Cumbria I’ve met this week still dealing with aftermath of really serious flooding). The common theme?: Barriers. … More Barriers
Earlier this month, we hosted the first full meeting of Countryside Classroom partners at the House of Commons. We had three aims: ensure the partners were well acquainted with one another seed ideas for future collaborations between partners introduce a small group of parliamentarians to the work of the consortium A structured networking session encouraged partners to meet … More Sharing much in Commons
Last month we (FACE and Countryside Classroom) hosted a twitter #UKEdChat (see http://ukedchat.com/) on this topic. Over the course of two hours, we asked the following 6 questions and below is a summary of the discussion, courtesy of my colleague Lauren Weller. How do you incorporate outdoor learning into your teaching? What barriers have you encountered and … More Outdoor Learning For All Pupils: The Key To Health And Attainment?
Two weeks ago we held FACE’s Annual Meeting; not a dry committee event, but a chance to get together with our stakeholders in a relaxed setting to give some deep thought to the future of our work. The mix of sixty or so members, beneficiaries, funders, industry heads and FACE team met in the beautiful … More Changing the narrative – hearts and minds
As we launch Countryside Classroom (www.countrysideclassroom.org.uk) this week, it is worth reminding ourselves of why and how we came to this point. I get asked frequently why we created another web site, and it’s a good question, especially since ‘duplication’ is one of the criticisms that fuelled its very existence. The consortium behind Countryside Classroom … More Remind me, why did we create a new web site?
