Educational Group & School Visits
Farmer Palmer's welcomes all groups with children 8 years and under. All pre-booked groups (of 20 or more paying persons) get a 40% DISCOUNT on our normal admission prices.

Adults £4.15

Child    £4.15

CHILDREN UNDER 3 ARE FREE OF CHARGE!

We are unable to guarantee any dates unless you have pre-booked, by telephone (01202 622022) before sending us a booking form & £20 deposit.

Click here to download a pdf of our Group Booking form.

Click here to Download the School Visit Information & Teachers Guidance notes.

We do advise a (Free) pre-visit to our farm, during which you can carry out your own risk assessment and become familiar with the site.

Click here to download a pdf of our 2010 Risk Assessment Click here for our Access Statement.
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Also, you can click here to download the Health & Safety Executives Agricultural Visit Avoiding Ill Health information pages. click here for additional HSE school search page
You'll need Adobe Acrobat to read these pdf's. You can download it here

A copy of the Farmer Palmer’s EDUCATION PACK is available on request. Please tick box on your downloadable group booking form. Alternatively you can download our Early Years here 3 to 6 years  or our Key Stage 1 and 2 here 5 to 8 years here - they are big pdf files.

The woodland walk map will be available by Easter.

We are proud to have achieved our Farms For Schools Acredditation which is nationally recognised by DEFRA. Please see below for extracts from our education pack

What you can do on the farm
A typical visit includes:
Upon arrival everyone can congregate in the Milking Demo Theatre to leave bags etc.

Depending upon numbers we suggest the group is split into two for the guinea pig handling from 10.15–10.45am. One half visits at 10.15 while the other play then the 2nd group visits at 10.30am. Please join in the Animal Barn activities in the timetable as they happen. In between we suggest the children do one of the other activities on offer, such as playing, the tractor ride or a counting activity.

If the Woodland Walk is closed due to heavy rain we suggest utilising the milking demonstration area or a party room in the restaurant for drawing or a quiz..

Before lunch, children are taken to wash their hands and then they eat their lunch. Lunch takes place in the party rooms if it is cold or wet i.e.Oct – March or in the picnic area in good weather.

In the afternoon, many groups resume the timetable or choose to do the Woodland Walk following the route on the map. This takes about an 15-20 minutes to complete.

The day finishes back in the Milking Demonstration Area with the real cow milking demo. (Please note all bags etc may need to be returned to the coach by 1.30pm as this is also a public demonstration).

Areas available for your own fieldwork:
Animal Barn for animal studies, counting, colours, movement & sound
Buildings for shapes and materials
Duckpond & woodland walk for habitat
Milking Demonstration Area for food chain study
Play areas & equipment for physical & emotional development
Woodland and river for wildlife investigations

Activities we can provide on the farm:
Learning about animals/Habitat/Life Processes - “Hands-on” interaction with a variety of animals including talks from the dedicated staff, explaining more about the animals and how they are kept at Farmer Palmer’s
Various mediums of indoor & outdoor play equipment –sand, straw, motion tractors, bouncing castles
Trailer ride around the farm @ 11.45 or 1.15

Timetable of events to fit in with
10.15– 10.45 Meet & hold a guinea pig – Please use as a question/answer session too!

10.45 Trotter time with the pigs
11.15 Bottle feed baby goats**
12.00 Pony Grooming

1.00 Bottle feed or hand feeding small sheep **
1.30 - 2pm Meet and hold a guinea pig
1.45 Cow Machine Milking Demo with Farmer Palmer in the Milking Demo Theatre
(If time is an issue this can be brought forward by 10 min if requested in advance)
2.30 Trotter Time with the pigs
**depends upon the time of year and the animals feeding/breeding routines. (30.10.08)

For Key Stage 1 we can incorporate
Science - Life processes/seasonal changes/habitats/care of living things & food chains
Mathematics – Counting/shapes/measuring growth & collecting data
English – Reading & writing animal stories & looking at topical issues
Art & Design – Animals & plants in design & photography
Drama – Role-play/enacting life cycles/making masks
Geography – Human influences on the environment/water cycle
PE – Animal movement & the children’s
PSHE & Citizenship – Question time

Facilities:
A covered area suitable as a meeting point, for packed lunches or for wet weather activities: In the Milking Demonstration area or Party Rooms (In Winter)
Picnic areas: Milking Demo, Outside Picnic Tables or Party Rooms (in winter)
Toilets: In the Hen House Restaurant Building
Hand-washing facilities: On the Restaurant wall in the centre of the yard & inside in the toilets.
Access for those with disabilities: All of Farmer Palmer's Farm Park has disable access (although fields can be unsuitable after heavy rains)

Meeting point if children get lost: Any lost children should be reported to/or brought to the shop or restaurant where a member of staff will help. A suggested meeting point is at the front of the Hen House Restaurant near the railings

Place to go to if there is an emergency: All staff wear Farmer Palmer’s T-shirts (pink or blue) and all departments have radios so raise the alarm and everyone must move out to the assembly point adjacent to the outside animal pens.

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