PICTURES: Children get chance to experience life on the farm at Boston school

The school now has its own Farm School where children can go along and get up close to the animals and learn about the work that is done on a working farm.

Head Sarah Whelan said the school is renowned for its Forest School approach, but after returning from the Easter break, the school went one better.

The Farm School is based on a working farm to the north of Boston and visits are also available to other schools and organisation.

The project arose because, after ten years of continual use, the woodland at St George’s needed time to repair and rewild. At the same time, the school was offered the opportunity to use an existing sheep farm.

Over winter one of the barns was totally renovated and now houses lambs, pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and ponies – most of which have been rescued.

The children feed the animals, groom the ponies and lead the animals to their paddocks. They also get chance to stroke the rabbits and guinea pigs, search for eggs and bottle-feed the lambs.

Pupils will also have a lesson planned around their learning at the farm, with, for example, younger children maybe counting eggs in twos whilst putting them into egg boxes and older children maybe looking at feed to weight ratios, or life cycles or plant crops.

Sarah said: “The possibilities are endless. The children are surrounded by so many learning opportunities during the day and the experienced staff are able to pass on their expertise and knowledge. Once the ponies have settled in, children will also be able to learn to ride.

Farm manager Annelies Bourne said: “The skills of Forest School relate equally to Farm School – with opportunities to develop qualities such as empathy, resilience, tenacity, self-confidence and self-esteem – these social and emotional skills cannot be taught and must be experienced in real-life conditions - Farm School encourages the holistic development of individuals.

“It is important for all children to know where the food on their plate comes from. In an agricultural county such as Lincolnshire where many families are involved in farming and the food production industry, we owe it to our children to develop the knowledge and skills that they need now and in the future.”

If schools and community organisations would like to know more, they should contact [email protected]