Priory Farm: Building a community and a curriculum for the future

St Augustine’s Priory teaches long-lasting habits of wellbeing like no other school. A London day school with 13 acres, we use our land to maximise the potential of our students, families and everyone in the community.

The Priory Farm, a major initiative, comprises allotments, where a variety of crops are grown, tended by the girls under the guidance of parent volunteers, and livestock: three micro-pigs, several breeds of chickens, ducks and a small flock of Soay-Ouessant-cross sheep, seeing our first lambing season.

Aims

Our groundsman guides groups of visiting school children to the Priory Farm. The Priory Farm is a source of knowledge and expertise for other schools who wish to take advantage of the facility which our farm provides, rare for a London school.

It is a focus for cross-curricular activity covering, for example, the three sciences, as well as Art, I.T. and RE. All classes visit the farm with exciting activities involving subjects such as art, physics, computing and mathematics. We weave in whatever the visiting schools are learning – like the school who brought three forms over two days to enhance their study of Charlotte’s Web.

The Farm is also a focus for sustainability in the School and visiting schools are learning that all produce and indeed waste is utilised – from windfall apples to acorns to “black gold” used to fertilise our crops. Our pumpkins have been grown on the compost heap. With the girls, we have built runs for the sheep using old pallets – we are teaching visiting schools that we save the environment every day in our decisions. They see us gathering acorns and apples from the orchard for the pigs, selling eggs to buy chicken feed. These life-long habits reduce our carbon footprint. They see us use everything and they are learning vital life-long skills.

A programme is being set up with a local state secondary school and a local school for autistic children to host its vulnerable and SEN pupils.

Background

Our Head of Science launched the project as part of British Science Week. We had previously hatched eggs as part of a Biology project showing lifecycles, we decided to rear and keep chickens. From there we developed the idea of forming the Priory Farm, which has expanded to include micro-pigs, sheep and ducks, a farm rare in the urban environment of London.

Resources

Pupil Farm Managers are critical to the success of the farm, we rely upon their commitment to caring for the animals, to keep the farm running. The support from staff and parents is on-going and whole-hearted. Up to 20 members of staff support the pupil Farm Managers: 5 Senior and 8 Junior and share the care of the animals every day of the year.

Our Farm funds and sustains itself, reducing our carbon footprint through selling eggs and fruit and vegetables from our allotment. Girls gather and press apples for juice which they sell. Indeed their enterprise means they sell everything – even bags of animal feed to unsuspecting Open Day visitors. These sales provide feed for the chickens, ducks and pigs and the sheep are rotated around the enclosures to provide a never-ending grass-cutting service.

Impact

A PASS survey conducted in April showed significant results among a sample cohort of Year 9 pupils. Forty students took part which, as one of its factors, measured each girl’s feelings about the school – their sense of well-being, safety and comfort in school.

There was a marked difference between those who worked as Farm Managers on the Priory Farm and those who did not. Although the mean percentage of the other students was 77.9% - well above the national average, the Farm Managers’ average score was 83.7%. The benefit of the farm can also be seen in the Farm Managers’ attainment grades in core subjects compared with the non-Farm Managers who had the same CAT predicted grades.

From this evidence it can be reasonably concluded that the benefits accruing to St Augustine’s Priory pupils from the Priory Farm can also be replicated with our visitors.

After their recent visit to the Priory Farm, 20 SEN students from the Ellen Wilkinson School completed a survey on their visit. 100% of pupils said they enjoyed their visit and 45% said they had never visited a farm before. 95% of students said they felt happier after their visit and 75% said they felt more relaxed. One comment which stood out in answer to the question 'Did you learn anything new today?’ was ‘I learnt how kind animals are.’

We have plans afoot to model our Priory Farm to other institutions in the London area, including schools and homes for the elderly. Although St Augustine’s Priory is privileged in having 13 acres of grounds in which to host a farm, most organisations would be able to keep chickens which bring with them a necessity for being cared for and give the carers the benefits of physical activity and a great sense of well-being in their company. Mr Kane would be able to provide both consultation and physical support. Planning documents, risk assessments and policies could all be shared.

Pupil Involvement

540 children from local state primary schools between the ages of 3 – 10 have visited the Priory Farm for tours since May 2018.

Senior pupils’ at St Augustine’s are trained to be Farm Managers in the care of the sheep, and attend a lambing training day at a commercial farm. Farm Managers care for the animals, seeing to their daily needs, conducting daily health checks, feeding, watering, collecting and selling eggs, brushing the pigs and mucking out the pigs, chickens and ducks. This care demands commitment and Farm Managers come in at weekends and during holidays to ensure their charges are well-looked after. The Farm Managers often bring friends and family members with them on the weekends and in the holidays to help care for the animals.