Farmers and estate managers in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire are opening their gates to school children learning in the outdoor classroom of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
A new web-based Countryside Education Network of 25 farms and estates is ready to welcome teachers and school children to the beautiful landscape of the North Wessex Downs where they can learn about food, farming and the countryside.
The Countryside Education Network, created by Hampshire Country Learning with support from the North Wessex Downs AONB Sustainable Development Fund grant, includes information to help teachers link their visits with National Curriculum subjects.
Jo Britton, Hampshire Country Learning Co-ordinator, based at Sparsholt near Winchester, explains: "The Countryside Education Network website
"Farmers and estate managers who welcome school groups are able to promote their work through the website, which is linked to the Department of Education and Skills 'Growing Schools' website and the Farming and Countryside Education website. Each farm or estate in the Countryside Education Network has been visited and approved by Hampshire Country Learning. This means that the farmers have been through the Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme, their facilities are geared up for children, and they are able to meet teaching requirements."
Fiona Newcombe, Director of the North Wessex Downs AONB added: "This beautiful protected landscape is the perfect outdoor classroom for children to explore woods and meadows on farms and estates as well as the ancient and historic settlements to learn about farming, food and the countryside."
The website is the ideal resource for land managers to use to promote their farms and estates during the Year of Food and Farming, a Government initiative to enable every child to spend at least one day in the country doing everything from pond-dipping for mini-beasts, to learning how a sheep is sheared and cows are milked.
