In November, The Year 5s had the wonderful opportunity to spend a week on a working farm at Nethercott House, as part of Michael Morpurgo’s charity, Farms For City Children. The children had to be up, in the yard and ready to work  by 7.30am each morning. The chickens had to be fed and let out, after collecting the eggs; the pigs had to be fed and some children were taken to the next farm to feed the cows and sheep. After our first jobs were done, we could then enjoy a well-deserved breakfast. The porridge was particularly nice!

Then back out in our wellies  on the farm for sessions of gardening, juicing apples, jobs around the farm and mucking out the horses. Each group was led by a member of the team at the farm who taught the children about the different animals and plants and how things worked on the farm.

After a cooked lunch back at the house altogether, we split off into our groups again for our final tasks of the day. We had Forest School sessions at the farm where the children could build dens, make charcoal around the fire, saw wood or make twine. The children had the freedom to explore the different activities and we enjoyed huddling around the fire to keep warm.

The evenings were a chance to be together in the house, choosing from different activities from knot-tying, table tennis or group games in the common room. Not a TV or phone in sight! It was a wonderful week at the farm, with many special moments such as seeing piglets less than a day old, grooming horses and of course the excellent home cooked food.