Recently students from St Wilfrids visited two organic farms, Swillington Organic farm on the 25th of February & Clever Cow Organic farm on the 4th of March. The trip was taken by post-16 BTEC Science students as part of one of their Task investigating the physical and chemical properties of different soil types.
Swillington Farm
Swilington farm is an organic farm which raises cows, goats, ducks, pigs, chickens and sheep. Students collected eggs from the farms chicken sheds, a few lucky 
people got to play with the farms goats and everyone was able to buy delicious organic ice cream and chocolate from the farms shop, whilst one unlucky teacher narrowly escaped an over-excited goose! The class spent the morning touring the farm site used for a range of activities including farming animals, growing Christmas trees, fishing, and nature works. In the afternoon students carried out an investigation into different soil types across the farms site, using scientific techniques to determine different types of soil.
people got to play with the farms goats and everyone was able to buy delicious organic ice cream and chocolate from the farms shop, whilst one unlucky teacher narrowly escaped an over-excited goose! The class spent the morning touring the farm site used for a range of activities including farming animals, growing Christmas trees, fishing, and nature works. In the afternoon students carried out an investigation into different soil types across the farms site, using scientific techniques to determine different types of soil. Clever Cow
Clever Cow farm is a diary farm located near Thornhill. The farm is run by the Rawson family and currently 3 generations of the family live on the farm. The farm is currently run by the family’s son, Tom, who uses a range of cutting-edge farming techniques to ensure tha
t the far m has most efficient use of land for feeding their cows. The farm not only makes it own milk but it also bottles and sells its own brand of organic milk and cream, which are used by St Wilfrids in the school canteen. The farm uses a cross bred of black & white and Jersey cows (seen on the left) At the farm students got to see the farms herd of cows, as well as a tour of the whole of the farms site which involved team working skills because SOMEONE let one of the cows escape and the group had to conjure up and implement a recapturing plan! Pupils also got to see the milking shed and the bottling plant at the farm. As a special treat pupils were able to see newly born calf’s and had the chance to play with them. For lunch the family put on an assortment of cakes and scones with tea, all using the Clever Cow farms produce. They were delicious. In the afternoon pupils carried out soil tests across the farm site and found a range of different soil types. Special thanks to Mr Lee who drove the mini-bus to Swillington and Mr Larrington who drove the mini-bus to Clever Cow Organic. For more information about farm trips contact Miss Sanderson in the Science department.
Article by Miss Sanderson
