The Newbury & District Agricultural Society

Newbury Showground,
Priors Court, Hermitage, Thatcham, Berks,
RG18 9QZ

Charity number is 1003898

Acompany limited by guarantee

Registered in England and Wales no. 2630481

Registered office as above
Website by Touchware

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Education

	The Food, Farming and Environment Challenge 2008
	The Education Tent at the Royal County of Berkshire Show 2007

The Newbury & District Agricultural Society is pleased to be involved with a number of educational projects. An overview of a few of them is given below:

Farming, Environment & Sustainability Challenge Final

Over the past four months, students from across West Berkshire have been taking part in the Farming, Environment & Sustainability Challenge 2008. The schools that have been taking part are Kennet, Mary Hare, Theale Green and The Clere and they have been working alongside local businesses in the farming and environment industry to work on a real life business issue.

The students came together on Wednesday 4th June to present their findings to a panel of judges from the Newbury & District Agricultural Society. The Grand Final was held at The Long Gallery, Englefield Estate. Newbury & District Agricultural Society developed and sponsored the event in partnership with the Education Business Partnership West Berkshire. The supporting businesses included Rushall Farm, Sheepdrove Organic Farm, Highclose Farm, Porchester Farms & Waitrose.

During the Final the participating teams were asked to present their findings to the judges. The judges were impressed with the standard of work and chose both Kennet School and Mary Hare School as their overall winners. Kennet School worked alongside Sheepdrove Organic Farm to make suggestions on how the food they provide to chickens can be sourced more sustainably. For their challenge Mary Hare School worked alongside Waitrose and Highclose Farm to investigate “food miles” and the environmental impact of transporting fruit and vegetables.

A prize of £100 was awarded to each winning school and both schools have been invited to receive their trophy in the President's Tent at the Royal County of Berkshire Show in September 2008.

Farming, Environment & Sustainability Challenge 2008 Winners

The Education Tent at the Royal County of Berkshire Show 2007

The Education Tent at the Royal County of Berkshire Show included:

Exhibitors
Alder Bridge School	Lambourn CE Primary School
Basildon Primary School	Newbury & District Primary Schools Football Association
Beenham Primary School	NHS Trust Healthy Eating
Bucklebury C.E. Primary	Orchard Day Nursery, Yattendon
Calcot Infants School	Padworth College Independant School
Castle School	Pangbourne Primary School
Chaddleworth St Andrews Primary School	Parsons Down Junior
Downe House Independent School	Shefford CE Primary School
Downsway Primary School	Spurcroft Primary School
East Illsley CE Primary School	St Marks Cold Ash Primary School
Englefield C.E. Primary	Thatcham Park C of E Primary
Francis Bailey Primary	Welford & Wickham C.E. Primary
Garland Junior School	Westwood Farm Infant School
Great Shefford Pre-School	Woodlands Day Nursery
Hungerford Primary	Woolhampton CE Primary School
Kintbury St. Mary's C.E. Primary	Woolton Hill Junior School

Problem Solving Days

These challenging days involve groups of geography and business study students from a variety of local secondary schools coming together at the Showground where they are set a problem to solve. Recent examples of problems include designing an exit questionnaire for the County Show (which was subsequently undertaken by one of the schools involved), preparing an educational children's trail suitable for primary age children and preparing a new format Show Guide. Senior members of the Society are present throughout the day to give guidance and help with ideas. The day finishes with the groups of students giving presentations of their ideas. The Society is pleased to work with the West Berkshire Business Education Partnership on this initiative.