Children from London’s East End got into a bit of a jam on their school day-trip to the Essex countryside.
They went on their first-ever trip to a working farm, where fruit for the famous Tiptree jam is grown.
The Year 3 pupils from Poplar’s Woolmore Primary learned where fruit comes from and how it is grown, as part of their national curriculum.
The visit was the “hands on” practical side of classroom learning, getting their fingers into finding out on the ground about food production.
“We know how important it is to give children a chance to learn in different landscapes,” Woolmore senior teacher Gillian Drinkwater explained. “Our farm visit taught them about the natural environment as well as being able to identify and name different types of food grown at the farm.”
The farm near Chelmsford is run by Wilkins & Sons with 75 varieties of fruit used in jam-making. The tour was on a purpose-built 40-seat tractor-trailer with farm manager Andrey Ivanov and his commercial manager Anton Thurgood explaining all about the different fruit grown and the farming methods they use.
The outing was arranged by the Country Trust education charity and was paid for by the Aldgate & Allhallows Foundation which has a programme of farm visits for Tower Hamlets schools.
Country Trust’s Sharon Roberts said: “It was a great experience for the children who have never been to a working farm before—for some, it was even their first time in the countryside!”
The youngsters explored a maze in the shape of a strawberry and learned the history of the farm at its own little museum.
But best of all was each child given sample jams to take home to their family.
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