Year 5 from Sedgeberrow C of E First School visited Sandfield Farm today. We had such a mix of subjects covered today. The topic of the term for this class is ‘Chocolate’. Firstly we discussed whether it is Winter or Spring…..? After our health and safety talk the children were shown a sample of milk fresh from our cows this morning. We then discussed the different types of milk found in their fridges at home. I explained about the processes of pasteurisation and homogenisation. Later on the children tried the standard three types of milk; full, semi-skimmed and skimmed. As can be seen by the photo below all the milk was drunk. The children were surprised that the ‘fatty’ milk has less than 4% fat. 

Today Year 4 from Sedgeberrow C of E First School had their fourteenth day on the farm, as they have been three times a year since Reception class. The topic of the day was ‘Maps and View from the Air’. It was the first visit in the new classroom with thirty children and it worked really well. The children were delighted to see that the compost toilets of their previous visits are now a thing of the past. Their excitement over the new flushing toilets was almost as great as mine. 

After our ‘Staying Safe on the Farm’ talk, we discussed why farmers find maps very useful within their business.

Once a new born calf has had its ear tag put into its ear, it is measured with a weight tape. The tape has measurements on it which link the size of the calf to its assumed weight. The measurement is taken a few hours after birth, then at four weeks and then again at eight weeks.

The cows in the maternity shed have been busy over the last couple of weeks and today our fiftieth calf was born. The calving, so far, has gone well. The majority of births have been uncomplicated and resulted in a healthy calf. No twins yet. An interesting fact; if a cow has twins and one calf is male and the other female, the female calf will be infertile and is called a freemartin. In terms of calving ease and stress on the cow, our preference is to have single calves.

Well done to Year 4 from Kitebrook School who experienced a very chilly farm today. Once they started to build World War 1 trenches in the den building wood, the cold toes were soon forgotten. In the morning once the health and safety talk was over, I talked about my family in World War 1. Great Great Grandfather had one son who went to the Great War and another son who stayed on the farm to help produce food for a nation under food rationing. I showed them the poppy I bought from the Tower of London display, to remember the son who never came home. From history to science, we moved on to the most important thing on the farm……soil.