Community Farm project for ILS students

A group of students from the Tycoch campus of Gower College Swansea are involved in a project at the Swansea Community Farm at Cadle. Those taking part are all students with additional needs, aged between 16 and 18, who are on the first year of the Work Preparation course. They will be visiting the farm once a week for 10 weeks in order to learn more about where the food on the supermarket shelves comes from and how it is produced. It will also help them with numeracy and literacy skills.

Leila Roberts, the Education Officer at the farm, said: “The course looks at all aspects of raising animals and growing vegetables, from incubating eggs and planting seeds, through to meal planning and cooking. The students will be using maths and writing in a practical setting, as well as looking at wider food issues, including factory farming and how meat is produced – and it should be a lot of fun, too. Most people just see food as something they get from a supermarket shelf – this will show where food really comes from. This is the first time that we have done a programme like this – if it is successful, hopefully we will do it again.”

The students’ tutor, Wilma Thomas, commented: “They are having valuable hands-on experience in handling and managing a variety of animals, including pigs, chickens and sheep, and are thoroughly enjoying their time at the Community Farm.”