INSPIRE, EDUCATE AND INVOLVE

Education

Bore Place helps young people connect with nature and enjoy the outdoors. We believe there is huge value in getting children outside the classroom and exploring and learning in an outdoor environment. We cater for all children and aim to ensure that our activities and residential stays are accessible to all. 

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School Day Visits

A regenerative farm tour is at the heart of every school day visit

Your class can explore food production on a working organic farm, learning about dairy farming and vegetable growing in a market garden.

Choose a theme to complement the farm tour and tie in with your topics in school. All themes are differentiated and linked to the KS1 and KS2 curriculums.

Activities will vary by season, weather, access and the natural resources available (examples are given below). If there is a specific activity or curriculum focus you would really like to look at, please make a request and we will work to incorporate this.


Marvellous Minibeasts

Take a walk out onto the farmland and explore where minibeasts inhabit. Find out how they live and why they thrive at Bore Place.

 

Example activities

  • Minibeast hunt in logs, leaf litter or grassland
  • Meadow walk (summer)
  • Pond dipping (limited number of sessions in spring/summer)
  • Predator-prey and camoflage games
     

KS1 curriculum links

  • Food chains
  • Carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
  • What animals need to survive
  • Habitats and microhabitats, and how they provide for animals
  • Animals have offspring

 

KS2 curriculum links

  • Food chains plus consumers, producers and decomposers
  • Predator-prey relationships
  • Adaptations to suit environment
  • Life cycles and stages 






Habitat Detectives

Let's look at some of the habitats we have on the farm. Become an ecologist or countryside ranger, and help us monitor the animals that
call Bore Place home.

Example activities

  • Seasonal survey e.g. worm, dung beetle, hedgerow
  • Habitat trail, comparing types
  • Footprint survey tunnels and mammal ID
  • Nest building
  • Animal signs scavenger hunt

KS1 curriculum links

  • Food chains
  • Carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
  • What animals need to survive
  • Habitats and microhabitats, and how they provide for animals
  • Animals have offspring

KS2 curriculum links

  • Food chains
  • Predator-prey relationships
  • Adaptations to suit environment
  • Classification and using a key






Sow and Grow

Spend some time in the garden with us.
Find out about how plants live and how we
can help them to grow.

 Example activities

  • Parts of a plant, germination and pollination games
  • Visit the garden to see the range of plants and what parts we can eat
  • Seed sowing
  • Wildflower seed bombs

 

 

KS1 curriculum links

  • Basic structure of plants
  • What do plants need to grow
  • Adaptations to suit environment

KS2 curriculum links

  • Functions of parts of a plant
  • What plants need to grow plus nutrients and space
  • Lifecycles - pollination, seed formation and dispersal
  • Adaptations to suit environment






Field to Fork
(single class only)

Find out where our food comes from. Think about how we know our food is good, and
have a chance to try some Bore Place foods.

Example activities

  • Foraging or harvesting ingredients
  • Look at natural vs. processed foods
  • Cook a simple food
  • Dairy product taste testing
  • Butter making

KS1 curriculum links

  • Where food comes from
  • Healthy eating
  • Nutrition
  • Basic cooking skills

KS2 curriculum links

  • Where food comes from
  • Healthy eating
  • Nutrition
  • Practical cooking
  • Food seasonality
  • How ingredients are grown, reared and processed






Forest School taster session (class size max. 20)

Come with us on an adventure into the woods
to develop your survival skills. Work together
to create a tasty campfire treat.

Example activities

  • Sensory games
  • Den building
  • Tool use
  • Fire lighting skills
  • Campfire cooking

Programme benefits for KS1 and KS2

  • Physical and mental wellbeing from spending time in nature
  • Learning through first-hand experiences
  • Develop understanding of risk in an unfamiliar environment
  • Engage all of the senses

Most programmes are suitable, or adaptable, for wheelchair users and visitors with limited mobility. Teachers are welcome for pre-visits (please book via education@boreplace.org). 

Policies, procedures and risk assessments 
Please click here for our School Day Visits Handbook.

Need help with costs or transport?
Bore Place is committed to being an affordable educational venue. We offer a subsidised rate for small-class state schools and classes with a high number of children receiving pupil premiums. East Surrey Rural Transport Partnership is a not-for-profit company offering very competitive prices to schools in a number of areas.

School Day Visits School Day Visits School Day Visits 

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Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Building on decades of work with specialist schools, we make use of every aspect of our estate, tailoring programmes that develop essential life and work-related skills for young people.

Our SEND programme is suitable for a wide variety of pupils, but especially those who enjoy developing practical skills. We will work with you to make the programme appropriate for your students' needs, adjusting the level of content and pace of delivery as required.

You can visit us once or on a more regular basis throughout the year. We also offer residential facilities for stays on the farm.

We are experienced in working with augmented communication systems – Makaton/sign along and Communicate in Print, and our site is accessible for wheelchair users. 


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Accredited Programmes

We offer accredited courses for SEND school groups attending Bore Place on a regular programme.

John Muir Award

 John Muir Award is an environmental award scheme that encourages people of all backgrounds to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places. It is inclusive, accessible and non-competitive. The Award’s ethos encourages participants to minimise their impact on the natural environment – from considering access and responsibilities in the outdoors, to making sustainable lifestyle choices. With a focus also on health and wellbeing, the award is something we are really excited to be able to offer at Bore Place.

Laser Qualification

We currently offer two accredited programmes through the Awarding Organisation LASER:

LASER’s Independent Living programme is designed to develop life and learning skills through a variety of units around the subject areas of horticulture, ecology, conservation and independent skills development. 

LASER’s Learning, Employability and Progression (LEAP) qualifications offer a wide variety of personal development and vocational taster units including personal and social development, employability and land-based subjects as part of the programme.

Arts Award

The Arts Award encourages the growth of artists and arts leaders. The programmes we offer at Bore Place support groups from local schools to develop their own creative pathways. Students work on projects aiming to foster independent working and progression into further education and employment. Students are assessed on developing art form knowledge and understanding, creativity, planning and reviewing, and communication. We have experience in delivering all three Arts Awards (Bronze, Silver and Gold) - and can adjust the level of content and pace of delivery as required. Each student produces a portfolio or arts log to record their journey.

Residentials

Set within 500-acres of organic farmland, Bore Place has diverse landscapes including fields, meadows, hedgerows, ponds and woodlands to explore.

Activities
Our tutor-led programmes offer fun, safe, curriculum-linked activities with options to tailor your stay to your own learning outcomes. Our activities are focused on outdoor learning, designed to allow pupils to connect with each other and their environment. 

Accommodation and catering
We can accommodate up to 25 guests in The Old Stable, a sensitively converted historic building on the estate. There are 8 shared bedrooms for pupils and 3 single rooms, perfect for accompanying adults.

We provide seasonal, organic and locally-produced food and consider the impact of our food choices on the environment. We create healthy, balanced meals and snacks for hungry children and can cater for special dietary requirements.

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Evaluation

Bore Place has a track record of delivering innovative projects in education and wellbeing working with over 2500 pupils annually.  All our activities are evaluated through a variety of methods including participant feedback gathered informally and through specific surveys. We also seek feedback from teachers, parents and pupils themselves. This feedback allows us to adapt, improve and strengthen the programmes we offer in line with our vision, values, strategic plan and local demand.  

Testimonials

Patience with younger children, wonderful enthusiasm, the staff had a passion for the learning they were showing which resonated with everyone with activities that engaged and were fully inclusive to all children.

The Wells Free School, January 2022

The tour of the organic farm was fantastic - the children really enjoyed this and it was good to think about what makes it organic and the effect this can have.

St Paul's CofE Primary School, March 2022

It was very well organised, the children were active and engaged all day and as a bonus, they got to help feed the calves. It was a lovely day!

Penshurst Primary School, March 2022

The day was extremely well-organised and run without feeling too pressured. The children really enjoyed a different dimension to their learning.

Chiddingstone School, September 2021

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