Schools’ Challenge is the ‘subject’ at the Lincolnshire Show
24 May 2013, Press Releases
Primary and secondary age school children will learn about farming, crops and healthy eating when they take part in the annual School's Challenge at the 2013 Lincolnshire Show.
47 schools from across the county will compete against each other in a range of exciting challenges relating to the countryside, the environment and agriculture.
The Schools Challenge is designed to relate to popular educational themes which are part of school curricula. The challenge takes place throughout the year – and culminates in a showcase of students' work at the Lincolnshire Show.
The competition is aimed at primary, secondary and special schools – who work from six challenges, which really encourage children to think about the food and sustainability.
Jayne Southall, Director of the Lincolnshire Showground and the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, said:
"The Schools Challenge has been going for 20 years and is a really important part of the Lincolnshire Show and again this year will be a major focus.
"The challenge is really important to help school pupils across Lincolnshire engage with their environment – and understand more about where their food comes from. Not only that, but the challenge helps young people understand more about sustainability and the environment."
Each school participating in the challenge is allocated a 'farming mentor' who is on hand to assist the school with all things agricultural. There will be eye-catching displays for the two days of the show and judges will have the tricky task of deciding who the champions will be.
The Schools Challenge includes several tasks – including Project Potato which sees young people grow their own spuds and experimenting to find the best growing conditions. The pupils can then develop recipes using their potatoes which, along with their remaining potato plants, will be judged at the show.
The Schools Challenge is organised by The Education Business Partnership and LAS, but is facilitated by sponsors including E Park and Sons, Farmacy, Lincs FM, and Uncle Henry's Cafe and Farm Shop. The challenge is part of the Discovery Zone which this year is supported by Woldmarsh.
Other parts of the challenge include: Reducing my School Footprint where pupilslook at the impact their school has on the environment. They do environmental impact surveys and research and create action plans to reduce the school's carbon footprint.
My community, My commitment gets pupils to look at ways they can improve an area of land within the school grounds or local community, while My Healthy School asks pupils to develop healthy meals which could be used within school. Pupils are encouraged to use ingredients that are home-grown or locally produced.
Advertising the Lincolnshire Show gets pupils to analyse existing strategies used to promote the Lincolnshire Show and then develop new ideas to engage young people.
Growing around the Globe encourages pupils to investigate which crops grow best in the British climate and compare these with the crops which would thrive in a school garden on a different continent. Pupils can then develop relationships with schools overseas to further their projects.
For more information regarding the Schools Challenge please contact Suzy Stone at the Education Business Partnership on 01522 574230, or email suzy.stone@eblo.org.uk.
