Norton College: The Yorkshire comprehensive that has re-opened its school farm - which closed in 2014 after 40 years

Assistant Head Teacher Samuel Stones who grew up in Tollerton working weekends on farms is the man at the helm of its return. Samuel said he is delighted with the response from students, teachers and support staff and that the entire farm has been refurbished and reopened using fundraised monies from the community and local businesses.

“Many of our students are from farming families or farming communities, but the response has been right across the school and the community.

“There are financial implications and barriers but we are trying to get the farm back to the strength it had and because of the amazing support it hasn’t as yet been completely overwhelming in terms of the scale of change.

“The response from students has been phenomenal. We also have a number of members of staff who have come forward and are taking part and supporting the students at the times when they go into the farm as part of our extra-curricula club.

“Some students have already become heavily involved. They are hands-on, look forward to getting changed and taking part in such as mucking out and feeding. The farm lends itself to children getting involved as much as they want to.

Samuel said that having the school farm back up and running will allow students to include an animal-based qualification in their options, but that it offers so much more in terms of its overall impact on health and wellbeing.

“When I came into the Assistant Head Teacher role with responsibility for curriculum I worked with students, parents and the wider community. The absence of either land-based or animal-based education management courses that we used to offer up until 2014 when the farm closed came over loud and clear. Until then the farm had been a very significant part of our core curriculum.

“In April last year I contacted colleagues with farms in other schools and found a BTEC Animal Care course. It’s a really good, strong course and we had a look at its requirements, saw the number of species of livestock and equipment we would need. We have built the farm around the requirements of that course and our current Year 9 students now have it on their options to start studying in September 2023.

“Through the extra-curricula club we have been running since September 2022 it means that we are offering everyone the opportunity to engage in something they may not have access to out of school and there is the further opportunity of it now being available as a qualification. We see the school farm as being about both social and academic development. They to me are what education is about in its broadest sense.

Norton College is working closely with local farmers and building farming and food related partnerships to ensure the farm is properly stocked, managed and that there is a correlation between having the animals and why they are there.

“We don’t have a particularly large headcount at present,” said Samuel. “We have made a conscious decision to take things slowly while also being at the right level for when the course begins.

“Our sheep were selected for us by a local farmer, Scott Burdett, who is part of our direct school community as he has children here. Scott came to undertake an audit of the farm area and looked at fence heights and various other things we needed to have right.

“Our sheep are Suffolk-cross lambs and Texel-cross ewes, the type of sheep that will live outside all year round and are fairly easy going. They arrived last September.

“We also have two pot-bellied pigmy goats, chickens and turkeys. The turkeys are a new addition to the farm. There are so many children who have never seen a real turkey. We also have some guinea pigs for those who don’t like larger animals.

The school farm takes up nearly four acres with three paddocks on the school field available. Samuel said he would like to see the return of pigs and that he is also aware that while the whole community is largely behind the school farm’s reopening there are also some challenges.

“It is perhaps just about recalibrating people’s expectations. We are in a largely rural and market town community that understands agricultural education is important and that the school farm was previously here for 40 years and housed such as cockerels and pigs.

“There are a lot more houses around now that weren’t there when the farm was last open. That means it is no longer appropriate for us to think about all the types and numbers of animals that may have been on the farm in the past.

“We want to educate everyone about why the farm exists and the purpose it serves in bringing on future generations. If there is any opportunity for us through the media to talk of the positive impact of the farm linking back to its founding principles in the 80s and 90s then that’s absolutely what we want to do.

“One of the founding motivations for the farm’s return is to connect it in a local agricultural context with what is a very rural community.

Samuel said the distinction of it being a working school farm was also important.

“The wider understanding of livestock and agriculture in food production is also part of the education we want to offer. As such we are looking at furthering relationships with businesses involved in the food processing industry. This is not a petting zoo.

Samuel was never a farmer or from a farming family. He didn’t take up agricultural education, but he remembers the joy he had in working with animals and on farms. He is enthused about how the newly reinstated school farm can help others that didn’t have his opportunities.

“I had a range of experiences that offer me some form of rural background, part-time work, before taking up my career in education. My work experience placement while at school was at a farm just out of Easingwold. My job was rolling the fields in the farmer’s John Deere.

“What we are now looking forward to seeing is how many students will take up the BTEC in Animal Care in their options. That is ultimately how we will find out how manageable and sustainable the farm is, and what works and what doesn’t.