Experiences

School Visits

Here at Briddlesford we welcome enquiries from schools wanting to visit our farm.

We can provide age-appropriate tailored experiences linked to many areas of the curriculum.

When a visit date has been confirmed we provide a Risk Assessment and a opportunity for lead teachers to have a pre-visit tour of the farm.

All school visits begin in the covered area next to the café. After an introduction and brief history of our farm, health and safety guidance and handwashing protocols are explained to the group.

Then the experience of finding out about life on a working dairy farm begins!

For the younger children the focus of the visit is generally about animal development, the link between food and farming (grass to glass for milk), packaging of products and the importance of farming. With older pupils, we explore farm diversification, sustainable farming practices, genetics, and how we have continually adapted our business model over time.

The highlight for all age groups is getting close to the calves and cows and feeding them. Different topic areas are built into the tour depending on the age and focus for the visit.

For example if the topic is about food we spend more time looking at what the cows eat, talking about milk and veal production and looking at the milk and meat in the farm shop.

If the focus is on diversification we spend less time with the cows and more time exploring the ways the buildings have changed and developed to house farm shop, café and Heritage Centre. Pupils often interview customers and evaluate the aesthetics and convenience of our different enterprises.

Children with Special Educational Needs get a very valuable experience from a more ‘hands on’ visit.

All groups get an opportunity to try our creamy golden Briddlesford milk at the end of the visit.

We provide 25 free visits annually with Higher Level Stewardship funding; after that, the cost is £3 per pupil.

Chris and Judi Griffin lead the visits and are both CEVAS (Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme) trained. We are also able to meet and chat with the farmers at work on the farm.

School groups can book in for a curriculum related visit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9.30am until 12noon.