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Kent YFC >> School Clubs >> Kent College KENT COLLEGE YFC
Club
Type: School Club information: Kent College is one of few schools that can boast a well developed farm unit, based on the school campus. The School Farm is run every day of the year by our dedicated manager, Ian Lockwood. Under his guidance, pupils of the school are able to work with a variety of agricultural livestock, from the highly ornamental rare breed chickens to the slightly less ornamental beef cattle. The Farm aims to maintain itself as much as possible as a working unit. Though it is naturally strongly supported by the school for the unusual opportunity it gives pupils to work around livestock, Ian Lockwood has found ways in which the farm can support itself. If you are passing you can always pick up a box of eggs, not to mention a real organic turkey at Christmas. It must be said that the style of animal care at the Farm takes “free range” to an entirely different level.
Pupils who wish to make a regular commitment to the Farm are given the opportunity to care for an animal of their own, which they will learn to feed, groom and train in advance of the annual Kent County Show. The trip to the Kent County Show is always particularly successful for Kent College. Each year our pupils show their dedication and enthusiasm in increasing measure as they brave the occasionally inclement weather in tents on the County Show ground in Detling. Showing of animals starts early in the morning, yet the pupils seem to take this in their stride and are often found starting their animal’s grooming and cleaning regime well before the sun comes up. Despite the hard work, you will never find any other mud covered individuals quite so cheery at the end of the four days, and so proud at the success they have managed to achieve for their animal. In 2004 the farm was able to take a wide variety of livestock to the show . This ranged from large beef calves through to numerous lambs. We also took along a range of rabbits, chicken and ducks, all complementing the different animals that are at the farm year round.
The degree of commitment that the students put into the showing of the animals is remarkable. Every inch of their animal is known and carefully prepared for the classes. This degree of work helps them to understand the full scale of responsibility that is required for stock management. These skills are transferable to other areas of school and life itself. The farm also provides a service where other schools can come and visit the farm and view the various operations that we undertake. This can vary from lambing to calf rearing and training, egg collecting and conservation projects. These are very popular and enable other schools to benefit from this wonderful resource. The
farm is a great asset and is enjoyed by 50 different children from the school
each week. The only requirement of coming to the farm is a pair of old clothes
and a willingness to get involved.
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Kent
YFC (c)2006 is registered charity #302905. |
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