our work with the sixth form students of Five Acre Wood School

Several people have asked about our current work with schools and we are pleased to say that after a few months of working out the best direction on this we've successfully started with the fab bunch of sixth form students at Five Acre Wood.

Trying to anticipate the potential we may offer for growing experience is easy. There are many really, truly, great examples of growing projects providing valuable and much needed opportunities to explore land based skills and we've set a lot down as case studies to inspire our work. We've visited many and seen the incredible influence they have on young people. None may be more valuable than when providing our new space and offer of use, free of charge, for multiple learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder and severe and complex learning difficulties, such as Five Acre Wood School cater for.

Our sixth form group numbers 12 split into two groups of six. Originally intended to alternate each week we may soon provide both field and outdoor classroom facilities so all twelve come each week. This will boost the potential for further study work beyond the work experience. This includes spring planting of Rhubarb, artichoke (both Jerusalem and globe), onions, daffs, cauliflowers and mint. We've deliberately placed a focus on potatoes as it gives a great introduction into the scale of growing we do and helps the students gain an idea of the tasks involved while enjoying a fine spring day from the middle of a ploughed field.

Our facilities are pretty minimal right now. However with the support of our landlord, East Malling Trust (who run East Malling Research) we've secured the lease on our entire field and so have set about a plan for integrating our education purpose across the two acres cultivated last year to now include 2 more acres for growing along with over an acre and a half for conservation and study.

Part of our hopes for this may be that we can reach more local people to support our Community Supported Agriculture. It has been a struggle to find the commitment that is required to work on a community basis as much of the local needs and loyalty of consumers has been dismantled by the growth of supermarkets who may provide far more than we may ever hope. This growth directly corresponds to the decline of independent local suppliers and stores. Hopefully our profile of education and as a charity too may address some of the misunderstandings and return us some of the dedication supermarkets enjoy. The wonderful part of this is that when people do buy our veg they not only get a great deal with organic or better produce, that is more natural methods but is is fresh and helps our work for schools and groups like Five Acre Wood.

We would also like to thank Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council who have provided us with funds for our first purpose designed education 'Solar' Tunnel.

More to follow or go to http://www.fiveacrewood.co.uk/

Sixth Form
Five Acre Wood’s Sixth Form provision is based at Aylesford School Sports College site. The sixth form caters for students with severe and complex learning difficulties. Students with profound and multiple learning difficulties remain on the main Five Acre Wood site.

Students are no longer subject to the expectations of the National Curriculum but they continue to focus on a broad range of subjects including the core subjects of numeracy, literacy, ICT, Personal and Social Development; key skills areas and vocational pathways. This is to ensure that our students leave school at 19 years of age being as independent as possible in order to move on to the next stage of their life. Activities in the sixth form therefore reflect the age and changing needs of our students. This means that the curriculum is based on the teaching of functional skills with the aim of students being able to generalise and apply these in as many everyday contexts and in as many practical ways within the community as possible.

The experience of being on a mainstream school site enables Five Acre Wood students to participate in a wider school community. The provision also enables Five Acre Wood students to access a wider range of resources, access some lessons / specialist teaching, build friendships and take part in a range of activities alongside their mainstream peers. This experience has a very positive impact on the confidence and independence of our young people.