Second Virtual Food and Farming Day to inspire Peterborough and Cambridgeshire pupils

Last year’s event run by the East of England Agricultural Society saw more than 900 schools and home school educators log on to take part in active sessions and more than 9,000 individual users visit the event page on the day.

Now, the event, which is part of educating initiative Kids Country, will return for a second year at 9am on Friday, July 2.

Sandra Lauridsen, education manager of Kids Country, said: “Of course we wish that we could welcome school children back to the Food and Farming Day in its normal format at the East of England Showground, but last year’s virtual adaptation was so well received as the virtual element means that schools that would not normally travel to the physical event can take part in the comfort of their own setting.

“The appetite for learning about food and farming in primary schools is ever growing. This year, we have been overwhelmed at how the Kids Country team and schools have learned to adapt, with our ‘event in a box’ programme giving over 3,000 children an opportunity to learn more about everything from Grow Your Own Potatoes to Happy Chicks Day and so much more.

“We are thrilled that supporting farmers, food producers and other supporters have been able to once again support us in putting together educational video material of real value, with supporting resources there to download too. This is all completely free to schools and we hope it will be just as beneficial and well received as in 2020.”

The Virtual Food and Farming Day will be hosted at kids-country.co.uk as well as being posted across Instagram (@kidscountryuk), Twitter (@KidsCountryUK) and Facebook (Kids Country UK).

It is completely free to access and is broken down into five zones: health and safety, kids kitchen, farming, crop and machinery, countryside skills and animals and livestock.

Teachers will have the choice to go through the various zones, for instance watch a related video produced by passionate people from within the agricultural industry, then download the related free resources and hopefully complete an interactive activity.

Teachers can pick and choose what real education videos they want to watch and when, to make their own bespoke learning experiences and fit in with school projects and the national curriculum.