Cranford Review 2015

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Jamie’s Farm - A Unique Experience Cranford Community College has enjoyed a successful partnership with Jamie’s Farm for three years and over 70 students and a dozen staff have enjoyed this unique experience tucked away in the hills outside Bath. Jamie’s farm combines family, farming and therapy and both students and staff have benefitted in a huge range of ways: re-engaging with education, building self-esteem and allowing our predominantly urban students to flourish in a rural environment that fosters independence and enables them to engage with themselves and their environment in a completely different way. Rob Ind (Assistant Headteacher Pastoral) This year, I was very lucky to be given an opportunity to go to Jamie’s Farm with the students to help boost my confidence. Our Cranford students were very well behaved and friendly, I had so much fun with them, taking part in the activities without any hesitation such as; going on a swing, wood chopping, cleaning out the pig’s pen so that it looks clean and brand new for another pig, herding sheep from one field to another at Steve’s farm, cooking, breakfast, lunch or dinner etc. I made friends with the staff too; Jake, Rachael and Sue. Sue helped with cleaning the pig’s pen and was nice to chat too. What I learnt about myself from this trip is; always give something a go rather than just saying no first, I can socialise with students and animals very well now. I was also involved in telling the students who did well when we were doing a check in where we also rated out of ten how we felt after what we did. They loved to go for a swim in the river during the warm weather during our long walks in the evenings. It’s been a while since I have been on a residential trip such as this, and is the first time as an adult. I had a lovely time, as well as the students, and hope they do well in school now after having been given the opportunity to go on this trip and prove that they can change and do well in future. I have seen a few of the students back in school and we say hello. I, too, am surprised that I have also been told that I have changed and would like to see how this goes. 10 Alwin Sandhu (Reprographics and postal services administrator)
Jamie’s Farm, Cultivating Change That’s what the logo says and that is exactly what it does. A place that helps young people flourish in education, at home and in the community. Twice a year Cranford takes two groups of 12 students for 5 days. They all feel at home at the farm very quickly and love being there and without exception are all very sad when it’s time to come home. Every child I have ever taken would jump at the chance to return. The working farm aspect of the visit means that all of the animals have to be tended to and cared for – in the morning the animals are fed and cleaned out before we have our breakfast. The students all have to take part in even the most smelly and dirty of jobs. When asked the children would say that cleaning out and feeding the pigs is the smelliest – however they all just tackle the job without complaint and always do a complete and thorough job and usually with a lot of smiles and laughter. As well as the feed round everyone takes part in herding sheep and moving them from field to field, helping with the delivery of lambs and bottle feeding any orphans, grooming the horses and learning to horse whisper, clipping the chickens wings, collecting eggs and herding cows. There is always work to do in the organic garden which produces a lot of the fruit and veg that we eat at the farm and chopping wood which helps heat the house and barn and provides us with hot water. The students are not allowed to bring sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks or any other snacks to the farm. Instead all food is produced from scratch and is healthy and plentiful. Even the fussiest of eaters do not go hungry and become much braver in their food choices. All of the students have a turn at preparing breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and the evening meal. This includes collecting fruit and veg from the garden, making bread, preparing vegetables, and cooking meals for about 25 people. They really take pride in serving the delicious food and then we all sit around a huge table and eat as a family. In addition to the no junk food rule the students are not allowed to have mobile phones, iPads or any other electrical device. They often find the thought of being away from social media, texting etc. very difficult but as soon as we arrive at the farm it is so busy they don’t even mention it. They very quickly learn to actually have face to face meaningful conversations rather than looking down at a phone and text talk. At the end of mealtimes (after clearing the table, washing up and clearing away), we sit at the table and all take part in a shout out and check in. This involves everyone (students and staff alike), when we think about how we are feeling. The shout out is when we recognise that someone has done something well, has been kind to someone else, has been helpful etc. It is often a very moving time and on occasion there are tears, positive tears. One of the students said “it’s weird, the louder kids become quieter and the quiet ones start to speak up”. Every afternoon we all go on a very long hike which always involves a lot of hills. The students really enjoy the walk; we take the farm dogs, if the weather is fine we stop at the river and go in for a swim. The walks are a great opportunity to really get to know the students. By bedtime the students are all very tired and it’s straight to sleep ready for more of the same the next day. The whole trip is absolutely amazing, exhausting, fun filled and really gives students the chance to reflect and think about how to make positive changes to their lives when they return. As one student said: “I love it here, I can just be me”. Jamie’s Farm, Cultivating Change. A place that helps young people flourish in education, at home and in the community; yes I truly believe it does just that. Vanessa Tutt (SEND Department) 11
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Cranford Review 2015

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