Page 79 - The Year at Millfield Prep 2024-25

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Community Outreach 01 Mr Thornburn in the stocks!
02 Maypole dancing
Our Wednesday afternoon Community Outreach 03 Mr James’ ‘feed me’ stall
has continued this year. We have partnered 04 Pupil led stalls
05 Christmas jumper day
with two local farms: Sourdown Poultry Farm in 06 Shapwick Nature Reserve
Butleigh and Plotgate Community Farm in Barton 07 Mayfair
St David.

Pupils have been involved in a range of activities
which have supported the two farms in their daily
tasks as well as supporting pupil wellbeing.

Whilst at Plotgate, pupils supported the regular
volunteers with a range of activities such as
harvesting fruit and vegetables, planting fruit
and vegetables, sorting and preparing vegetables
for sale in weekly veg boxes as well feeding and
tickling the resident pigs.

05 At Sourdown, each trip started with collecting the
eggs from the 1000 chickens. This task involves
a range of jobs such as rolling in from the laying
boxes, collecting eggs which have been laid onto
the bedding layer, boxing up from the line, date
stamping and finally loading onto the van. Many
have conquered their initial fears of going in with
the birds and in our last visits of the academic
year, all pupils enjoyed holding and cuddling the
chickens. Jobs like this could take Lucy and Dave
(the farmers) a few hours but with the energy and
enthusiasm of our community outreach volunteers
we often helped to box over 1000 eggs in just 30
minutes! The pupils also enjoyed their annual visit
to Shapwick Nature Reserve.

Whilst at Sourdown pupils have enjoyed a range
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of lessons in animal care and one of our young
volunteers even identified a chicken that was being
bullied and rescued her from the flock before it
was too late! She joined the rest of the ‘wonky
chickens’ down by the farmers house and is now
looking much more round and feathered again.
They have taken the goats for a walk, changed
bedding, fed the animals and generally just enjoyed
a slower, tech free afternoon out of school.

For many, the farm has been an opportunity to
decompress from the busyness of school life, at a
slower pace, in the fresh air and with a group of like
minded pupils.
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