Cranford Review 2015

Jamie’s Farm, Cultivating Change
That’s
what the logo says and that is
exactly what it does. A place that
helps young people flourish in education, at home and
in the community. Twice a year Cranford takes two
groups of 12 students for 5 days. They all feel at home
at the farm very quickly and love being there and
without exception are all very sad when it’s time to
come home. Every child I have ever taken would jump
at the chance to return.
The working farm aspect of the visit means that all
of the animals have to be tended to and cared for
– in the morning the animals are fed
and cleaned out before we have our
breakfast. The students all have to
take part in even the most smelly
and dirty of jobs. When asked the
children would say that cleaning out
and feeding the pigs is the smelliest
– however they all just tackle the
job without complaint and always
do a complete and thorough job
and usually with a lot of smiles and
laughter. As well as the feed round
everyone takes part in herding sheep and moving
them from field to field, helping with the delivery
of lambs and bottle feeding any orphans, grooming
the horses and learning to horse whisper, clipping the
chickens wings, collecting eggs and herding cows.
There is always work to do in the organic garden which
produces a lot of the fruit and veg that we eat at the
farm and chopping wood which helps heat the house
and barn and provides us with hot water.
The students are not allowed to bring sweets, crisps,
fizzy drinks or any other snacks to the farm. Instead
all food is produced from scratch and is healthy and
plentiful. Even the fussiest of eaters do not go hungry
and become much braver in their food choices. All of
the students have a turn at preparing breakfast, lunch,
afternoon tea and the evening meal. This includes
collecting fruit and veg from the garden, making bread,
preparing vegetables, and cooking meals for about 25
people. They really take pride in serving
the delicious food and then we all sit around a huge
table and eat as a family.
In addition to the no junk food rule the students are
not allowed to have mobile phones, iPads or any other
electrical device. They often find the thought of being
away from social media, texting etc. very difficult but
as soon as we arrive at the farm it is so busy they don’t
even mention it. They very quickly learn to actually
have face to face meaningful conversations rather than
looking down at a phone and text talk.
At the end of mealtimes (after clearing the table,
washing up and clearing away), we sit at the table
and all take part in a shout out and check in. This
involves everyone (students and staff alike), when we
think about how we are feeling. The shout out is when
we recognise that someone has done something well,
has been kind to someone else, has been helpful etc.
It is often a very moving time and on occasion there
are tears, positive tears. One of the students said “it’s
weird, the louder kids become quieter and the quiet
ones start to speak up”.
Every afternoon we all go on a very long hike which
always involves a lot of hills. The students really enjoy
the walk; we take the farm dogs, if the weather is fine
we stop at the river and go in for a swim.
The walks are a great opportunity to
really get to know the students.
By bedtime the students are all very
tired and it’s straight to sleep ready for
more of the same the next day.
The whole trip is absolutely amazing,
exhausting, fun filled and really gives
students the chance to reflect and think
about how to make positive changes to
their lives when they return. As one
student said: “I love it here, I can
just be me”.
Jamie’s Farm, Cultivating Change.
A place that helps young people
flourish in education, at home
and in the community; yes I truly
believe it does just that.
Vanessa Tutt (SEND Department)
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