Spring is a wonderful time to visit the farm.  There are young animals wherever you look – lambs, calves, piglets, chicks and ducklings – with many keen for “close encounters” with our visitors!

Finding out is fun!

For younger children, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Three Little Pigs and Lay A Little Egg for Me are particularly appropriate at this time of year – all three sessions mix the new with the familiar, engaging young minds with stories, song, and hands-on activities.

For the KS2/3 age group, Food and Farming – the Sustainable Way broadens their understanding of farming, past and present, so that their visit is so much more than just meeting the animals.

For further details of all our education sessions, follow this link:

http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/acton-scott/schools-programme-at-acton-scott/

Introducing our Poet in Residence

Jean Atkin, Shropshire-based poet in education and community, has just received a grant award from Arts Council England which will see her installed as Poet in Residence at the farm this summer.

From Easter till mid-July Jean will be engaging with visitors of all ages to the farm, encouraging them to hear and write poetry in playful, informal settings.  Instances of poetry will sprout around the farm buildings and Jean will be running workshops for regionally based poets and for school visits. 

Her KS2 workshop, lasting an hour and a half, is designed for a group of up to 25 children and, thanks to Arts Council England subsidy, will cost only £50.

Jean will lead the workshop, providing a fun warm-up activity to engage the children’s imaginations and build their confidence.  Then she’ll get the whole group writing before helping the children gather their ideas together to create and edit a Group Poem to take back to school.

For more information on Jean and her Residency, follow these links:

www.jeanatkin.com

http://actonscottfarmpoet.wordpress.com/

Please contact the farm on 01694 781307 for more details or to book a workshop.

CSI Acton Scott

Can you find the culprit?  There’s a thief on the farm – grain is going missing from the granary!  Our new session for KS2 children, CSI Acton Scott, recruits some new detectives to the case.  They’ll need to keep an open mind and interpret the clues carefully – there is an animal who has been in trouble before, but is it him this time?

Practical investigations with skulls and teeth in the “forensics lab” and observations in the farm yard eliminate some of the suspects, but what will be the crucial clue?

Two for the price of one!

Acton Scott’s woodland is ringing with birdsong as nature celebrates the arrival of spring.  A visit to Acton Scott offers an excellent opportunity to learn about domesticated and wild life on the same day.

Our environmental sessions for KS1 – A Sense of Adventure and The Secret Life of Plants and Trees – sharpen the senses as children discover a fascinating secret world. As one young visitor, Nikita, told us:

“I learned that if you stroke trees little creatures will fall off.”

The Great Habitat Hunt and Fantastic Food Chains (for KS2/KS3 children) investigate life in our woodland and meadows through a range of innovative activities to develop observation skills and understanding whilst having fun.

We hope you have enjoyed catching up on our news.  Please forward it to anyone you think might be interested, or, if you’d prefer not to receive it in future, respond to this email requesting removal from our distribution list.  If you have any questions about this newsletter, the web links, or the farm in general, please get in touch, either by email or by calling 01694 781307.