RHET Scottish Borders CI
RHET Scottish Borders Countryside Initiative (SBCI) works to support schools in the region with projects and topics on food, farming and countryside.
All of our services are FREE to schools and we are often able to provide funding towards cost of bus travel.
CLICK HERE for the latest news from RHET Scottish Borders CI
We offer a number of ways to add value to your teaching on farming, food and the countryside in your local area...
NEWS FROM RHET SCOTTISH BORDERS
For Primary and Secondary schools.
RHET Scottish Borders CI has 40 host farms across the region. A farm visit can support many areas of the curriculum such as environmental studies, IT and business studies, technology, science, mathematics and enterprise. It supports the principles of A Curriculum for Excellence and complements many initiatives such as Eco Schools, Determined to Succeed and Health Promoting Schools.
We carry out regular risk assessments of all participating farms to the standard recommended in the Health and Safety Executive’s Guidelines on Educational Excursions. Around two weeks prior to the actual visit, the class teacher will visit the farm with our Project Co-ordinator to meet the farmer, walk the route and check over the risk assessment.
Last year RHET Scottish Borders CI facilitated 56 farm visits.
To book please click here to visit the Farm Visit page, or contact the RHET Scottish Borders CI Project Co-ordinator (see bottom of page).
RHET Scottish Borders have produced the following videos to give you an insight into what might happen on a farm visit.
They have been filmed at two of our host farms; Upper Nisbet, thanks to Robert Neill, the farmer, and Mossfennan, thanks to farmer Ann Welsh.
Hopefully you will see from these visits how much the pupils and the farmers get from these visits.
To view the videos in YouTube, please click on the following links:
2. Health and Safety awareness
3. Upper Nisbet Farm - Robert Neill
4. Upper Nisbet Farm - meet Daisy the Cow
5. Mossfennan Farm - links to the curriculum
'Video by Trahenna'
For Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools. Also see Early Years Resource Box.
We have a number of trained classroom speakers who can visit your school and bring farming and the countryside to life. Once a booking has been confirmed, the speaker will contact the teacher to discuss the format, content of the session and curriculum links.
Some ideas are:
- The story of milk, from cow to carton
- A day in the life of a farmer
- Scottish agriculture
- From farm to fork
- Recycling on the farm
- Careers in the countryside
These are only suggestions and all talks are tailored to meet individual needs.
Last year RHET Scottish Borders CI facilitated 198 classroom speaker talks.
To book please click here to visit the Classroom Speaker page, or contact the RHET Scottish Borders CI Project Co-ordinator (see bottom of page).
RHET has a range of curriculum-linked resources available FREE to schools.
We have a number of interactive materials covering subjects such as meat production, farming across the seasons, standard grade Geography and a newly developed Higher Biology online resource.
Please see the resources page of our website for a full list of resources available.
The following resources are available specifically to educators in the Scottish Borders CI area:
Early Years Resource Box:
For Nursery schools and classes.
We have an Early Years Resource Box, which is usually provided in conjunction with a classroom speaker.
This is a treasure chest for children! Filled with dressing-up clothes, CDs, DVDs, toys, puppets, books and farm products, it gives children an early experience of what is seen and heard on the farm and farming life in general.
The classroom speaker will bring the box to the school or nursery and talk to the children about food and farming for about 15 minutes. The box will then be left with the establishment for two weeks and collected by the Project Co-ordinator.
To order these resources, please contact the RHET Scottish Borders CI Project Co-ordinator (see bottom of page).
PROJECTS & EVENTS
As well as our farm visits, speakers and resources, RHET also run a number of events and curriculum-based projects throughout the year.
Visit our Project & Events page for more details of Scotland wide activities.
See below for Borders-specific events...
We are pleased to announch the launch of our:
Farmhouse Breakfast Week (Scottish Borders) Schools Competition 2012!
RHET Scottish Borders CI run an annual Farmhouse Breakfast Week Schools Competition for local schools.
This competition is sponsored by Scottish Borders Council and will run during Farmhouse Breakfast Week in January 2012, a national campaign organised by the HGCA.
Primary 1 to 3 - CLICK HERE to download the competition details
Primary 4 to 7 - CLICK HERE to download the competition details
Three winners from each age group will win a healthy breakfast cooked by RHET for their class. The winning schools will receive £50 in book tokens and the overall winning school will receive an additional £100. These prizes are funded by the Food in Schools Project, (Education Department, Scottish Borders Council). Each winning class will be taken on a free farm visit, funded by RHET Scottish Borders CI.
Farmhouse Breakfast Week is run by the HGCA as a national project. RHET is proud to be involved in the initiative, offering competitions locally across Scotland to highlight the importance of a healthy breakfast for children to start the day. The Scottish Borders competition is run in conjunction with SBHospitality and RHET Scottish Borders CI are extremely grateful to Scottish Borders Council for their support.
Food & Farming Days:
Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th November 2011
Over 260 local school pupils are heading to the Border Union Agricultural Society at Springwood Park (Kelso) for a Food & Farming Day.
Sessions will cover sheep and wool production, livestock and red meat (with QMS), cereals, oilseed rape and tractors/farm machinery. Activity provider Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will be focussing on venison, with Chef Fi Bird of 'Stirrin' Stuff' ready to demonstrate how to cook tasty recipes.
Sponsored by the Scottish Government (Food and Drink Industry Division), these Food & Farming events are designed to give pupils a better awareness of where the food on their plate is produced, plus the importance of the Scottish countryside. These events are an effective and fun supplement to a farming or healthy-eating topic in school and support Curriculum for Excellence.
NEWS FROM RHET SCOTTISH BORDERS
CLICK HERE for the latest news from RHET Scottish Borders CI
CONTACT RHET SCOTTISH BORDERS CI
If you would like to arrange a farm visit or classroom speaker for your school, or for any other information, please contact the local Project Co-ordinator:
Lesley Mason
Tel: 01899 880 200
Email borders@rhet.org
