A school farm has become one of the first in the British Isles to be awarded an industry quality benchmark. The accolade means Ramsey Grammar School’s Rural Science department is the proud holder of a Farm Assured registration – awarded by the Red Tractor scheme, a body that verifies standards in the agricultural industry. An independent assessor visited the school to ensure its levels of welfare, practice and documentation were up to the standard required to be registered as Farm Assured for keeping cattle, sheep and pigs. John Craine, Team Leader of Environment and Health, said: ‘The inspector was here all morning and began by touring our grazing land, sheep shed and piggery. He followed this up by inspecting our records and our policies for looking after our stock. We were very pleased when he announced that we met the standards and would therefore be registered as a Farm Assured farm. ‘We have since learned that we are probably the only school farm unit in the UK to be accredited as Farm Assured, although there are colleges accredited, and as a result have received an invitation to make a presentation to the UK Schools Farm Network on being a Farm Assured school unit. ‘The day then was made complete when one of our sows, right on cue, farrowed to produce our first batch of 12 Farm Assured piglets.’ Serving a rural community, Ramsey Grammar School has had a Rural Science department for generations. A livestock unit was added in 1987 when a piggery was built, a small number of sheep were kept on site and calves were bucket reared. Mr Craine said: ‘The scale of both facilities and curricular involvement stepped to a new level in 1998 when, at the instigation of the incoming headteacher, David Trace, a sheep shed was built and a small breeding flock of Polled Dorset sheep were added to the mix. With grazing on site and up the lane, at the foot of the hills, we have maintained a flock of a dozen breeding ewes and a ram of that breed and demand for the ewe lambs from this flock has been gradually increasing. ‘Four years ago the Medway block of the West Building was demolished to be replaced by the new, state of the art South Building. The old piggery was demolished and the opportunity arose to build a new facility. The result – a piggery housing two sows and their batches of piglets with a unique combination of indoor and outdoor pens and a gallery for students – is our pride and joy.’ Rural Science is taught to students in Years 7, 8 and 9. A fifth go on to study Environment and Land Based Science at GSCE, with excellent results. This offers the opportunity for practical and theoretical study of the environment as well as plant and animal husbandry. A dozen students are currently working towards an A-level in Environmental Studies. ‘The day-to-day work of looking after the livestock on the unit is undertaken by teams of student volunteers who inspect and feed stock before and after school. This provides all students with an opportunity to expand their life experiences in ways that few schools can offer and working among such students as they break new horizons is a privilege few teachers are able to encounter,’ Mr Craine said. ‘The rural dimension has encouraged links with the farming community and these enables students to benefit from visits to an automated dairy, a free-range egg farm, a fish farm and both free-range and intensive pig units as well as agricultural land for access to soils, rivers, beaches and the seashore. ‘Over the years we have received support from many individuals and enterprises and we are very grateful for this wonderful aspect of opportunity. We would particularly like to thank Arg Beiyn Veterinary Practice for providing free veterinary support for our Farm Assured status.’ Ends