Shabden Park Farm hosts educational visits for schools and groups, old and young.

Visits are tailored to your group's particular interests or curriculum subject studied and information is aimed at the particular age range of each group.
Staff are trained in health & safety issues and in coordinating an enjoyable and educational visit.
We conduct a pre-visit to dicuss activities and requirements for your group's visit, and to familiarise yourself with the farm's facilities, and we provide public liability insurance, risk assessment and other farm safety policy documentation.

A typical visit

A typical visit for schools will begin with being greeted off the coach in the farmyard and taken to the barn seating area for a welcome talk and a reminder of key health and safety issues. Morning activities usually involve visiting the animals with a chance to feed and hold young when they are around.
Before lunch the children are taken to wash their hands. Lunch is taken in the seating area of the barn when cold or wet, or if fine, in the field behind farmhouse with views across the valley.
In the afternoon, the group can opt to do a farm walk, using maps and ID guides, or a specific field activity such as counting plant and animal species in a quadrat or hoop. Other activities can be arranged, by pre-visit discussion.
At the end of the day, we all meet back at the barn for a chance to ask the farmer any questions about what the children have seen.

Activities we can provide on the farm;

• Sheep: lambing during January to April, shearing during May/June, sheep husbandry and care.
  
• Cows: calving during Apr/May, cattle husbandry.
  
• Horses, poultry, animal husbandry, food production.
  
• Role of working sheep dogs on farm.
  
• Managing wildlife habitats – farm walks, field studies, species studies.
  
• Woodland and hedgerow studies and activities.
  
• Farm machines and how they work – history of farming and development of technology (older children).
  
• Areas for sketching, outdoor drama/role play.
  
• Ecosystem and enactment games.
  
• Problem solving and team work e.g. bridge/shelter building.
  
• Trailer rides, outdoor play space for letting off steam.