FARMERS from the South West Lakes NFU paid three visits to primary schools for STEM week 2023. 

The aim was to visit schools in the local towns whose pupils might not be familiar with farming life and food production to give a perspective on the lives of farmers within their communities.

First was farmer Phil, who visited Ireleth St Peters Primary school near Askam.

He gave a lesson to nursery, reception and year one pupils about his day-to-day life on the farm.  He told the children how he milks the cows, tends to his goats and stocks the honesty shop with produce. He also taught the children the names of farm animals and their babies.

The highlight was the Zwartbles lambs he brought along for the children to meet.

The Mail: Farmer Gwen joined Victoria Academy's year three class Farmer Gwen joined Victoria Academy's year three class (Image: NFU)

Years one and two at Church Walk Primary School in Ulverston hosted farmer Alison, who told the children about her job as a farmer and how much she enjoys her work.

She said: “I love working with animals and being able to look after them myself from birth, means I know they’ve had a happy and healthy life”.

The children learned what goes into rearing the animals, the food they eat and where produce comes from.

The last day of lessons was with farmer Gwen, who joined the year three class at Victoria Academy in Barrow. 

She went into detail about her life on the farm, discussing specific facts about cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. Gwen said: "It’s important to me to look after the land we farm, to allow us to produce good quality crops and vegetables not only for people to eat, but to feed the animals we raise for food too."

The four piglets she brought along were well received by students and teachers. 

Group secretary of NFU South West Lakes Natalie Edmondson said: "It’s important to help educate the public on where their food comes from and raise the awareness of the hard work farming families that provide the ingredients for three meals a day.

"We really enjoyed our visits, the children asked some great questions and some even fancied becoming a farmer, so a job well done.”