NFU member and Farmers for Schools ambassador Polly Dumbreck spoke to pupils at The Rosewood School about how British farmers produce healthy, nutritious and affordable food.
She said: “We had a great day. The children were really engaged, asking lots of questions.
“They were eager to learn about life on the farm and some were asking about how they can become farmers, which was great to hear.”
An overview of farming
Mrs Dumbreck told the children about how she cares for the animals on her farm, at Edenbridge, and how British farmers adhere to world-leading animal welfare standards.
The beef cattle and sheep farmer also spoke about the wide range of exciting career opportunities in farming and how she supports the environment and works with several neighbouring farmers to support wildlife conservation.
This work has ensured that Mrs Dumbreck’s farm is home to several bird species which are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s UK Red List of birds needing urgent conservation action.
The Rosewood School
The Rosewood School is part of Kent and Medway Adolescent Hospital in Staplehurst.
The school supports children dealing with physical and mental health challenges, ensuring they continue their education while receiving treatment.
Sitting between mainstream and special school education, Rosewood aims to return children back into mainstream schooling.
Access to education
“They were eager to learn about life on the farm and some were asking about how they can become farmers, which was great to hear.”
NFU member and Farmers for Schools ambassador Polly Dumbreck
Mrs Dumbreck said: “Some of the children at this school are facing some difficult challenges and the teachers and staff do an excellent job to ensure they continue to receive education.
“I used to run a care farm and I have always been passionate about making sure everyone has opportunities to learn about British food and farming and to gain different life experiences.
“It was wonderful to see children so engaged and eager to learn and hopefully we can help to inspire some farmers of the future.”
‘Insight into the farming world’
Reintegration Higher Level Teaching Assistant at The Rosewood School Sonya Eade said: “We were delighted to invite Polly to the school and it was wonderful to see our young people so engaged.
“Several of our young people are planning to study Animal Management post-16 but had not considered working in agriculture so it’s great they had career information and insight into the farming world.”
Since its inception in 2017, the NFU Education team has educated and engaged more 1.2 million schoolchildren about British agriculture.
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