Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Countryside Days for Primary Schools



Around 5,000 youngsters from primary schools across the region are taking part in the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Countryside Days for Primary Schools next week.



Children from over 90 schools will head for the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 May to get a taste of rural life and countryside skills.



The Society’s Education Adviser, Hazel Baker, said: “We are anticipating a hugely successful event. It is wonderful that so many young people, many of whom have had limited experience of the countryside, want to experience it for themselves. We look forward to welcoming them and I’m sure they will all gain a tremendous amount.”



The event aims to give a better understanding of agriculture, environmental issues and farming through a wide range of hands-on activities. As well as the chance to see animals at the ‘Our Farmyard’ area, other wildlife featured in the displays include a falconry demonstration, owls, ferrets and working dogs. In addition there is also the popular Sheep Show – where different breeds of sheep are featured on the cat walk, before being shorn.



Sheepdogs will round up ducks and ducklings, there will be a demonstration of sheep-shearing and the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation is staging a display of gamekeeping activities and conservation techniques featuring pheasants, partridges and ducks.



The youngsters will be able to learn more about badgers through quizzes and games, use microscopes to examine plants and bacteria, and try traditional countryside crafts such as dry-stone walling, weaving and stick-making. There is also a Rural Arts area where they can use recycled materials to help form a large-scale sculpture.



Prior to the event, the children have been invited to enter a competition to invent, name, and design a wild flower using waste and/or re-cycled materials. They will bring their entries to the event for judging. The winning entry will be displayed in the Education Zone at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show from Tuesday 12 to Thursday 14 July 2005. The winners will also be presented with an inscribed wooden bench for their school.



In addition, food and healthy eating features high on the programme, with areas promoting the ‘Five A Day’ message and demonstrations of cheese-making, sausage-making and milking cows.



This year, more children than ever will be attending over the two days, with schools from as far afield as Harrogate, Hull, Sheffield, York, Leeds and Catterick among those represented.


The Countryside Days initiative was launched four years ago and has now grown to become a major annual event on the regional educational calendar. For more information on the Great Yorkshire Show please visit the website at www.greatyorkshireshow.org.

© Copyright 2004 RACE Yorkshire

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