Brymore Academy has a 32 Hectare farm, making it one of the largest school farms in the country. The livestock on the farm includes a dairy herd, beef animals, pig herd including pedigree rare breeds, poultry and a flock of ewes with lambs. Cropping is mainly designed for the dairy herd, but as many other crops as possible are grown on a small scale on the farm.
The Farm Manager, Paul Kingston, oversees the management of the farm whilst supervising the students during their farm duties. Every student is expected to complete duties for one week per term, starting at 6.30am every morning and again after school at 4pm, led by senior students known as Heads of Department. Duties include a range of husbandry duties across the livestock enterprises.
Students are taught to meet industry level competencies and we ensure our practice provides a safe learning environment, whilst maintaining financial autonomy on the farm. Our milk is sold through Barbers cheese, and our meat and eggs are sold through our ‘farm shop’. The farm is one of the ‘four cornerstones’ of Brymore, supporting the schools aim of instilling responsibility within the students to prepare them for the world of work, both within the land based sector and beyond.