UK: The farm at an inner city Birmingham school
Volunteers cleared out the space, family members built planters and the allotment was developed by school and community.
By Sarah Portlock
BBC News
Nov 6, 2023
Excerpt:
Pupils arrive early to feed the alpacas, make sure the goats have not escaped and check on the chickens.
In the spring, they get to hand rear and bottle feed lambs rejected by their mothers.
The goats are firm favourites, mainly because they keep escaping. Looking after the animals was their favourite thing about school, the children said.
“They’re cute and I just like being around them,” one said.
Charitable groups such as Newbigin Community Trust, Southfields Farm and North Edgbaston Sports Club loan the animals to the school for extended periods.
Not all the farm work is done by the children, though. Cleaning the enclosures and scooping up the poop is a weekly task for the headteacher.
But it is not all about the farm. Nearby residents have transformed part of a disused playground into an allotment.
Vegetables, including corn, cabbage, onions, carrots and beetroot are grown, and a community pantry has sprung up, where families can take some of the produce home.
School governor Shuranjeet Singh helped out with the allotment.
He said he contacted the school and asked how the community could support it.
“The school’s vision was so important for me because it recognised the well being of the pupils rested on the wellbeing for families and the wellbeing of the community,” he said.
