Tablehurst Community Farm is a biodynamic working farm with dairy cattle (calf at foot), pigs, poultry, sheep and beef cattle and the children are involved in caring for them as part of our sessions on a seasonal basis, for example seeing the lambing pens, watching milking and caring for our own animals: Anna & Jeff the pigs; hens & ducks: a sheep and Minnie the miniature shetland pony. We also have a large growing area for food plants and we have to build and manage our own site. We want children to understand where food comes from and so the full lifecycle of animals and plants is discussed in an age appropriate way. There is also a lot of time for fun and games! We have a weekly curriculum that follows the seasons and farm activity. So far this year we have looked at berries and extracted strawberry DNA, made ink from oak galls and learnt about preserving in different ways. Activities are different depending on the age group, our Let's Grow group incorporate business skills in their sessions and they and our Farm Kids are also supported to use tools safely to build and construct things we need. They're also encouraged to tinker with broken items in the farm workshop and see if they can get them to work again. Take a look at our gallery for some more ideas of what we do.

There are 3 weekly sessions, Seedlings Ages 0-5, Farm Kids Ages 5-11 and Let's Grow Ages 12 - 16. We also run holiday clubs for ages 5 - 11. Please see our bookings page for current days and times. We also offer school experience days and Birthday parties. Please contact us for more information via enquiries@tablehurstyoungfarmer.org

For Holiday Clubs and Saturday Farm Kids, we ask that you pay half termly in advance by bank transfer. If you need to make alternative arrangements, please speak with us before booking your place. For our regular weekly activities, please set up a Standing Order to pay on the 1st of each month. We will charge a fee for any late payments based on our administration time. If ever you are struggling financially, please talk to us, we will work with you to try and find a way for your child to keep attending.

Please have a conversation with us! We're a not for profit organisation and our main aim is to try and connect children with where the food is grown and produced. We hope to offer bursary places in the future, but until then drop us an email with your situation to enquiries@tablehurstyoungfarmers.org and we'll get back to you. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We run for 46 weeks of the year. We break for the first two full weeks of August and for four weeks at Christmas (the last two week of December & the first two weeks of January)

Places on our Holiday Clubs are booked on a first come first served basis. Please go to our bookings page. For our weekly sessions, places are offered to existing families first, so you may need to wait and see if we have a place for your child/ren. We have a waiting list for all our sessions and we can add you to this is you'd like to wait for availability.

Our waiting list is run on a "first come, first served" basis and we'll offer you the next place on the session you are interested in. This isn't always a quick process as it can take 6 months for a place to become available. If you're flexible on the day your child/ren can attend, please let us know at the time of your enquiry.

As you can imagine, working on a farm can often be a mucky business! So old clothes and then protective layers according to the weather. All children should have a bag to carry snacks, water bottles, spare clothes etc.. We'd recommend: Winter Thermal base layer 2 pairs of socks Jumper Full waterproofs Wellies or insulated boots Hat and gloves Gardening gloves - we have some available for sale at £3.50 per pair in child sizes Spring According to the weather, you might need a winter kit! You can often drop the base layer on warmer days. Better to have too many layers than too few. Summer Long trousers - we walk in fields where there may be ticks and often work with brambles/nettles Sturdy shoes or wellies depending on the weather - no sandals Sunhat Waterproofs A change of clothes - the children regularly play in the stream on hot days and prefer to put dry clothes on. Gardening gloves - we have some available for sale at £3.50 per pair in child sizes Autumn According to the weather, you might need a winter kit! You can often drop the base layer on warmer days. Better to have too many layers than too few. We are trying to build some supplies of waterproofs, so if it's prohibitively expensive to buy them for your family, do talk to us and we'll try to help.

Your child should bring a drink to last the full session, snacks and lunch for the longer days.

The drive way into the farm is one way, please follow the signs to the parking spaces in the car park opposite the polytunnels. A member of the team will meet you and your child there. Please do not drop them off at the side of the road as this can impede farm traffic and we get complaints.

Yes, all staff are DBS checked.

Yes, we have staff who have paediatric first aid training in each group.

We always have projects on the go! We appreciate physical donations of things like gardening tools, wheelbarrows, timber, seeds or if you'd like to make a financial donation you can pay directly into our bank account - make sure to let us know so we can say "Thank you"!

We have some volunteer roles descriptions. If you'd like to volunteer your time, please drop us an email at enquiries@tablehurstyoungfarmers.org and we'll send these to you.

You will need to complete an electronic Registration Form before your child/ren joins a session. A link will be emailed to you when your booking is confirmed.

Please discuss this with your child prior to their first session. It's important we work together to keep each other safe while taking part in our Young Farmers sessions. Being on a working farm has it's risks that children and adults need to be mindful of: You will need to stick with your group and know who your group leaders are. If you need the toilet or need to leave the group for another reason please let your leaders know. Always be aware that tractors and other farm machinery are using the farm paths and fields and so you will need to move out of their way. Never enter an animal enclosure without permission or without an adult present. Never put your hand into an animal enclosure or feed farm animals without permission or an adult present. We encourage healthy risk taking and hope that our young farmers can have the best possible time whilst remaining healthy and uninjured! If you would like to see our risk assessments or have further questions, please contact us via enquiries@tablehurstyoungfarmers.org

Yes! These are bespoke sessions depending on what your curriculum goals are. Please get in touch via enquiries@tablehurstyoungfarmers.org