New Project: Kings Langley Secondary School ‘Farmstead’
The Kings Langley School and Sunnyside Rural Trust ‘Farmstead’ project
What is happening?
Sunnyside Rural Trust (SRT) is working with Kings Langley Secondary School (KLS) to create a ‘Farmstead’ project, which will benefit both students and vulnerable people.
KLS approached SRT to help them provide alternative learning provisions and wellbeing options through the creation of a ‘Farmstead’ facility situated on land adjacent to KLS. SRT is excited to be working on this project, and to be using our skills and experience to help students and vulnerable people.
The problems faced by schools today
Nationally, 1 in 5 children are persistently absent, missing 10%+ of school time, with 150,000 children severely absent, missing over 50% of sessions. Absenteeism has continued to increase annually since the pandemic.
Behaviour in UK schools is worsening, based on national data. Suspensions of pupils from schools nationally soared by 40% in autumn 2023, with permanent exclusions also up 25%.
More and more students are now NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), a position that can lead to serious long-term health and social issues.
Mental Health Issues – 1 in 6 adults experience common mental disorders, worsened since COVID-19.
SEND diagnoses and need is also increasing across Hertfordshire.
The KLS approach
KLS wants to give its pupils the best chance of happy and productive school years. Their aim is that by using early interventions and alternative provisions, such as the ‘Farmstead’, students will have the best life chances possible.
Using these approaches, potential needs can be addressed in a way that reduces impact on the student, preventing crisis stage from being reached. This in turn reduces stress on the education and SEND system nationally and, more importantly, results in a healthy school population that is able to learn, thrive and unlock its potential.
The project & its benefits
The ‘Farmstead’ will provide alternative outdoor curriculum options within a therapeutic environment, where pupils can interact with animals, engage in nature-based activities, and participate in farming-related tasks. This hands-on, green experience can have a positive therapeutic impact on students’ physical, emotional, and mental health.
This overall sense of improved wellbeing will most likely, according to recent research, increase overall attendance at KLS. If attendees begin to associate a sense of purpose and enjoyment with their school life, they will be more likely to attend and thrive. The project also offers a sustainable alternative curriculum option for those learners who would benefit from this approach and might otherwise move towards exclusion and NEET status without it.
The objectives of the ‘Farmstead’ fully align with the government’s Children & Nature Programme and Green Care – an evidence-based approach that uses nature and the outdoors as a means to enhance physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The ‘Farmstead’ will also foster improved community relations by offering paid work, training, and skill development for vulnerable people. This initiative will create at least two full-time equivalent jobs and challenge public perceptions of people with learning disabilities.
The project provides a holistic, nature-based approach to support both education and mental health, benefiting students and vulnerable adults and members of the local community.
WHAT IS SUNNYSIDE RURAL TRUST?
Sunnyside Rural Trust is a registered charity that supports young people and adults with learning disabilities by offering training and employment opportunities within a social enterprise setting. We offer a wide range of employment opportunities including growing and selling fresh produce e.g. fruit, vegetables and salads; poultry keeping; PAT testing; gardening design and maintenance; allotment makeovers; warden services; and growing and selling a wide range of plants including Dacorum Borough Council bedding plant contract. We sell our produce and services through our two farm shops, local networks, regular markets stalls and local events.
SUNNYSIDE SITES:
ACTIVITY CENTRE – based in Berkhamsted off Ivy House Lane. It offers a purpose built facility where we cook the vegetables and fruits we grow on site. It has six acres, comprising gardens, allotments, heritage fruit orchards, coppice and willow plantations. AC offers services to people with learning disabilities and people with dementia.
HEMEL FOOD GARDEN – based at Two Waters Rd, just off the canal in Hemel Hempstead. This is where we grow DBC’s, Kings Langley and various cemetery bedding plant contracts. On site we have a successful café, bakery, farm shop and garden centre. We run a repair shed in partnership with Community Action Dacorum (CAD).
NORTHCHURCH – based on six acres at the bottom of Northchurch allotments, New Road. NC was our first service and to commemorate 30 years in 2020 we have built a new courtyard surrounded by new buildings. We will continue to grow veg across the 6 acre site as well as offer animal therapeutic courses from the new stables (we have rescued a small number of pigs and sheep), care for 350 chickens and offer excellent training facilities. It has a farm shop on site that sells our produce including eggs, apple juice, jams and chutneys. We run a repair shed in partnership with Community Action Dacorum (CAD).
ORCHARD PROJECT
Our newest site, based at Bedmond, houses our perennial growing structures. Tom Stuart-Smith is a prominent garden designer who has commissioned us to grow a number of plants for his high profile designs. We grew the entire stock for his iconic horticultural hero display at RHS Hampton Court 2021.