Edendale Primary School
Farmer Time school story – Edendale Primary School
School details: Edendale Primary School, Sandringham, Auckland
Name / location of matched farm: Farmer Jess - Tararua, Hakataramea Valley, Canterbury
Age of class involved in pilot: Year 4 and 5
Type of farm: Sheep, cattle, goat, cropping (grain)
All about Edendale
Environmental and sustainability is a key focus for Edendale Primary School - the school runs a Garden to Table programme and has a number of garden beds, worm farms and even an orchard onsite. When offered the prospect of being a part of the Farmer Time pilot they jumped at the chance, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to complement their existing initiatives and provide students with a link to the wider food system.
Deputy Principal, Jonathan Jackson says “Farmer Time is a unique opportunity for urban students to make connections to rural New Zealand farms. For many, this is their first insight into what it is like on a farm and gives them a valuable insight into what life is like outside the city.”
“Farmer Time enables schools to bridge the gap between where food comes from and how it ends up on their plate. It enables teachers to make meaningful connections between the curriculum and real-life experiences. We have used it to support and enhance our Garden to Table programme at school with great success.”
Edendale Primary School will be continuing with Farmer Time for the remainder of the year and will be extending this through to the senior school classes.
What made you get involved in Farmer Time?
We found out about Farmer Time through a colleague who had heard of a fantastic new programme with the goal of connecting urban students to rural farms.
We quickly jumped at the chance to come onboard, viewing this as a strong connection to our Garden to Table programme as well as presenting opportunities to integrate into our school curriculum.
What have the highlights been so far?
For our central Auckland school students this was their first glimpse of rural New Zealand and the work that goes on behind the scenes. Seeing their eyes sparkle as they were first introduced to the working dogs of the farm was a real highlight and something which they are still talking about to this day.
The kid's excitement has been the biggest highlight and questions coming out about the farm have been great.
What tips would you offer to other teachers who are involved (or are interested in becoming involved) in Farmer Time?
Put in some pre-work
Take the time out at the beginning to gain information and prior knowledge about the farm and the surrounding area. It’s important for students to understand where they are in relation to the location of the farm.
Get to know your farmer
By spending more time at the beginning of the programme with the farmer introducing their farm, this will also help students understand the unique challenges farmers might face and ignite a greater connection to the farm as a whole.
Make sharing of resources easy
Have a shared space (i.e. drop box, Google drive) where you can share photos and videos with each other. This allows the farmers to share any videos and pictures they have taken that will help set the students up for the video call session. It is also a great way to share photos with the farmer.
Some recent topics covered by Farmer Jess:
Seeing the farm in action was a big hit with the students. They loved seeing the animals (especially the dogs) doing their work on the farm.
We also got to see some harvesting and seed sowing. This tied in perfectly with our Garden to Table programme as it is something we do at school (on a much smaller scale).
Here’s what the kids said:
