The Country Trust & Warburtons partnership

24 June 2024

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Discover Warburtons Wheat is a free, hands-on learning programme connecting disadvantaged children with food and farming so that they can make connections between their lives and the land that sustains us all.  

The programme, generously funded by Warburtons and Frontier Agriculture, is delivered through two strands: day farm visits to Warburtons wheat growers, and a hands-on, in-school delivery programme, Farm in a Box. Both activities are targeted to provide support to children in areas of highest deprivation. 

New for 2024: Farm to Food Activity Mix. Six digital resources available to all schools through Warburton's brilliant Bake the Most of Life programme. Bake the Most of Life supports teachers, parents and young people through a range of online, curriculum-linked teaching resources, interactives and competitions that can be used in the classroom and beyond.

 

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The Country Trust & Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm Visit Programme

“I thought wheat always looked yellow like the ripe wheat, now I understand that it is green first and grows from a plant.” – Pupil 

“In 25 years of teaching, this has been one of the best trips I’ve ever done.” – Teacher Feedback 

Day visits to farms growing wheat for Warburtons offer significant benefits to children; they’re able to follow the seed to loaf story alongside farmers, and to imagine a wider range of future possibilities. The hands-on, real-world experiences help to excite children about learning, support language and communication, and provide opportunities to discover the natural world and how it supports our lives. We measure the impact of the programmes and can see that children feel more supported and confident to try new things as a result. They gain cultural capital and their curiosity for the wider world increases. 

Supported by our expert Coordinators, teachers develop the confidence, knowledge and skills to increase their use of food and farming education in and outside of the classroom, recognising how it can enhance curriculum learning.  

Discover Warburtons Wheat visits are offered to eligible schools close to farmers growing for Warburtons and where we have a Coordinator to organise and support the visit. Visit numbers are limited. Please visit our Farm Discovery page to find out more about our wider farm visit programme. 

 

Impact: Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm Discovery 2023

Teachers; 

• 100% of teachers agree or strongly agree that they feel better equipped to bring elements of farming into classroom teaching. 
• 100% of teachers agree or strongly agree to plan in a farm visit into a core aspect of their curriculum planning. 
• 100% of farmers feel that visits enabled them to tell the story of wheat. 

Pupils; 

• 86% of children think farms are important. 
• 86% of pupils said they had done something they had never done before. 
• 75% of children want to go back to the farm. 
• 71% of children want to find out more about farming. 

 

Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm in a Box 

“They loved the feely bags activity where they had to guess what was in each bag and came up with some great adjectives to describe.” – Teacher Feedback 

“They most loved the zoom call with the farmer and making seeds bombs which we dispersed on a welly walk. The animal poo lesson also grabbed their attention!” – Teacher Feedback 

In 2021, we expanded the programme and developed an in-school education programme, Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm in a Box. Each Box contains eight, hands-on, farm-centred activities that tell the story of wheat, from seed to bread; designed to open the door to the world of food, farming and the countryside and support children to connect with their environment and the food they eat. 

 

How to order a Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm in a Box:

• IMPORTANT: Check your school's eligibility.
• NOTE: The Box is designed for KS1 and KS2 pupils
• Click here to express your interest in receiving a Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm in a Box (Please note: due to limited availability, we cannot guarantee you will be able to order a Box)

 

Impact: Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm in a Box 2023

Teachers; 

• 93% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that they want to run more ‘real-world’ activities with their pupils. 
• 84% want to use elements of farming in their teaching in the future. 
• 92% said they agreed or strongly agreed that they felt more confident using the natural world in their teaching. 
• 83% agreed or strongly agreed that they had learnt more about jobs and careers possibilities within farming and agriculture, which they could share with their pupils. 

Pupils; 

• 94% of children interacted with the natural world as a result of activities within the box. 
• 87% said that all or most were excited about the activities in the box as evidenced through their talking with peers. 

 

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Warburtons Bake the Most of Life

NEW! Farm to Food Activity Mix... Available to all schools!

The Country Trust and Warburtons partnership continues to grow! Now available online are six digital resources from our hugely successful Discover Warburtons Wheat Farm in a Box - specially designed to support even more teachers to deliver food and farm based education learning without the need for the physical box.

Warburton's brilliant Bake the Most of Life programme supports teachers, parents and young people through a range of online, curriculum-linked teaching resources, interactives and competitions that can be used in the classroom and beyond.

 

BAKE THE MOST OF LIFE: FARM TO FOOD ACTIVITY MIX