Welsh Farming Week: Dairy delight for 20,000 pupils joining live lessons

26 June 2024

Around 20,000 primary school pupils have furthered their knowledge of farming thanks to live bilingual lessons and resources by NFU Cymru and NFU Education.

The curriculum aligned live lessons on Wednesday 19^th June were part of NFU Cymru’s third annual Welsh Farming Week activities. It is the second time NFU Cymru and NFU Education have teamed up to deliver virtual and interactive live lessons, following the success of the English and Welsh ‘Lamb Diaries’ lessons held last year.

Titled ‘The Great Welsh Ice Cream Adventure/ Antur Fawr Hufen Iâ Cymreig’, this year’s lessons were led by two young dairy farmer hosts; farmer and gelato entrepreneur, Angharad Edwards (Pembrokeshire) and farmer, consultant and Nuffield Scholar Anna Bowen (Ceredigion).

What the pupils learnt about

During the course of the two 45-minute lessons, Angharad and Anna gave pupils an insight into various food and farming practices including looking after cows, milking and turning milk into ice-cream. The lesson also highlighted the benefits of pollinators on farm, discussed how to grow strawberries and had a quick look around a research laboratory working on a new agricultural project. The lessons finished with a live and interactive question and answer session, where pupils were able to quiz the two dairy farmers from their school classrooms.

Diolch yn fawr i @NFUEducation @NFUCymru am sesiwn wybodus iawn ar ffermydd laeth heddiw. 🥛🐄🍦 Rydym wedi dysgu llawer am yr holl brosesau. #YCEBl3a4

A big thanks to @NFUEducation for an informational session on milk farms. 🥛🐄🍦 pic.twitter.com/qtYSd2Qi2K
— Ysgol Carreg Emlyn (@carregemlyn) June 19, 2024

Next generation of consumers

NFU Cymru Deputy President Abi Reader said: “I am extremely proud that NFU Cymru has again been able to facilitate these lessons for 20,000 youngsters. It is absolutely crucial that we engage with our school pupils, who are the next generation of consumers, about the food they consume and how it is produced. The fact that these lessons are curriculum aligned and bilingual is a win-win for teachers and pupils alike, while the cross-curricular tasks that are also available mean that learning can continue after the live lesson has finished.

“We are grateful to our fantastic farmer hosts, Angharad and Anna, whose passion and professionalism really excited and informed those tuning into the lessons. The pupils conjured up some wonderful questions during the lessons, which showed the quality of engagement that Angharad and Anna had with their audience.”

The lessons are available to watch again in English and Welsh and teachers can download free lessons resources and activities for their class on www.nfueducationlive.com

Some of the feedback received:

“We all thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and are currently really enjoying completing the resources. The lesson was full of interesting information, it linked brilliantly to our current topic 'Tyfu' (‘growing’) but it was also perfect for our focus on careers this week. We honestly thought it was great - da iawn!”

“All pupils enjoyed the lesson. The pupils were not familiar with the processes that go on behind the scenes with such common foods as milk and ice-cream.”

“The live lesson was engaging and captivating. The children were all engrossed and joining in. There were so many facts but delivered in a brilliant way that it wasn't consuming. Talking to the children after, they had absorbed so much information. We then spent the afternoon doing follow up work and making ice-cream so it was a full on experience which they have loved. Thank you!”

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