Primary courses at Magdalen Farm

The Magdalen Farm environment in conjunction with the diverse rural surroundings offer unique opportunities for school journeys, explorations and investigative fieldwork for primary classes.

The programmes offered at Magdalen Farm draw upon a long experience of teaching environmental education, geography and science in the field and the classroom but related to the emerging priorities of pupil-centred learning and education for sustainability.

The approaches to learning and the course content are informed by the following principles:

Pupil centred and promoting active learning through field exploration with the support of experienced tutors and appropriate resources.

A partnership between Magdalen Farm and schools to ensure the relevance and appropriateness of course content designed to meet the needs of your class and the National Curriculum.

A valuing of sensory and emotional responses in developing a sense of place.

Integrating the residential experience of living on a farm, socially and ecologically with the content of all our courses.

Establishing links between the context of rural experiences and the home environment.

Linking the concepts explored through fieldwork with the relationships between the way we live and our responsibilities to the natural world.

A weeks visit might be made up of a selection from the following themes.

In addition to the day activities all children are encouraged to partake in the daily running of the centre by helping in the kitchen, collecting vegetables from the garden or eggs from the hens.

There are also many different themes for evening entertainment which might include; A night walk, over night camping, star gazing, environmental theatre, wildlife watching and many different games.