WEEKLY VISITS
Weekly visits are our most popular programme!
Coming to the farm once a week during term time is incredibly beneficial for children in so many ways. Classes experience authentic, meaningful work on a regular basis, they start to feel the difference between the seasons and get a sense of the different types of work a farm demands.
They connect with the animals on a deeper level and as well as developing their relationship with their food and where it comes from. The magic of churning milk and seeing it transform into butter never fails to astound. As with our day visits, each term block can be tailored to the needs of individual classes or groups of children. The blocks can be organised as ‘A Year on the Farm’, focusing on seasonal farming activities or driven by a specific curriculum topic such as Science, Geography, Maths or English.
A typical curriculum topic-led programme begins with a short farm tour followed by the chosen learning content delivered in 45-minute slots throughout the day. Programme and lesson plans can be created by Tokes Farm staff, or a combination of Tokes Farm staff and the class teacher. Timings of each visit would be similar to the Day Visit Timetable.
“The time we spent at Tokes farm was the highlight of the year, for me as well as all the children who had the opportunity to come. We learnt so much – about nature, about farming and food, trees and animals, but most of all about ourselves and how we relate with others. The children brought with them a wide range of social and emotional issues and were from a variety of backgrounds, but within minutes of our arrival, any barriers seemed to dissolve and positive relationships began to establish. When we visited the cow barn, I saw a child who struggles to sit still or be quiet in class, sitting perfectly peacefully for twenty minutes just watching the young calves.”
Alan King Abhaya, Avanti Park School