Oak Class Farm Visit and Business Enterprise

The first 2 weeks of this short half term have whizzed past as we have had so much fun!

Last week we had two trips out and about around the village; the first to look at the land use in the village and the second to visit a farm in Grafton to study the local agricultural economy.

We discovered all the different categories of land use and identified them onto a map of the village and colour coded them with the aid of a key. At the farm we drew some sketch maps of the location and the farm itself. The highlight had to be the animals. The children learnt about the feeding regime of the calves, mixed up their milk and bottle fed a few very hungry mouths. Next was the lambing shed. There was a range of different breeds and all were very happy to be cuddled! The children had lots of fun and their hands on trip was made very special by Farmers, Lynne, George and Ed - they even gave us homemade cake as a snack. An Excellent Learning Outside of The Classroom opportunity which was very memorable.

This week we have been looking forward to the big launch of our Business Enterprise project and it finally happened on Wednesday. Each of the 11 groups has secured £10 sponsorship to start up a mini business with the aim to make as much profit as possible. We were very lucky that 5 of our local business sponsors were able to come into school to help us to launch the project. They spoke to the children and gave some of their top tips for becoming successful in business and the children were armed with lots of questions to help them make some sound business decisions. They helped the groups to start completing their business plans too, sharing their expertise. It was fabulous seeing the children so engaged with real life skills and their enthusiasm was very satisfying to see. Each group will keep in touch with their sponsor and give them regular updates as to how their business is progressing. Our next step is to carry out some market research to see if our initial ideas are workable.

There is more fun on the horizon as next week we are off to Condover Hall for our residential trip. We cannot wait!!