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Our vision & core principles
Our vision is to provide an engaging and widely accessible programme of holistic learning for our community, which will benefit people and planet.
Our educational programme at Warleigh is rooted in holistic wellbeing, stemming from the understanding that we cannot be well if the planet is not well, and we also cannot be well while others are not well. ThoughtBox Education calls this Triple Wellbeing: self care, people care and earth care. We try to keep this thread through all areas of our work. In doing so, we are stepping away from the industrial model of education, where students are in competition with each other, and into a learning space of genuine compassion.
As such, we are keen to work with people from all backgrounds, belief systems and identities, to try to improve access to nature through an engaging and widely accessible programme. We are always open to feedback on how we can improve, so do get in touch at any time.
Image courtesy of © ThoughtBox. All rights reserved.
We believe food is one of the most fundamental parts of the human relationship with nature. As such, our educational programme has a big focus on how food is produced, and nature friendly farming practices.
In all our sessions we try to engage the head, heart and hands to ensure holistic engagement and learning. We strive for a strong sense of wellbeing in everything we do, and would like people to come away from their sessions here feeling connected, healthy and energised.
It’s very worrying that 82% of British children can’t recognise an oak leaf, 83% don’t know a bumblebee when they see one, and 24% cannot identify a conker or a robin. We are striving to connect people to nature on every visit here, to try to ensure that fundamental knowledge and appreciation of our native wildlife is not lost.
We are keen to help people feel empowered in natural environments, so our programme incorporates a range of wilderness skills and craft activities. We also find it really important to celebrate and explore the arts to help uncover the instinctive and wild parts of each visitor, so have woven this into all our work.
Our educational programme has been designed and implemented by our very own Elsa Kent, who has become recognised as a specialist in environmental education in both the UK and Kenya. Her work is rooted in drawing out and celebrating the unique passion in each child for the natural world, and nurturing their individuality in an atmosphere of kindness and curiosity.
Our programme incorporates all four key areas of work (food/farming, wellbeing, wildlife and skill building/creativity/arts). We can either host a series of one off sessions for different classes/groups in your school, or we can work closely with one group, using our full ‘Gaia’s Classroom’ curriculum, which can begin in play group and run all the way through to sixth form. This curriculum goes even deeper into understanding your local ecosystems, and developing practical skills to feel empowered to make a difference.
We offer 25 free school visits per year (it’s best to book early). Charged visits start at £9per student, with a minimum visit charge of £270.
Please fill in the form below to enquire about a school visit. One of our team will be in touch with you to follow up and organise your visit in more detail.
Either Elsa or Katherine will host your visit. Both are fully DBS-checked with a wealth of knowledge about the farm, biodiversity and nature in general.
Elsa grew up at Warleigh. She is a passionate ecologist, working to reconnect humans to the natural world before it is too late. She has a Masters Degree from Schumacher Collage in Ecological Design Thinking and specialises in the role of the arts in ecological transition. She’s author of ‘Reconnecting Schools to Nature’ and has designed and implemented a whole school transition to ecological and holistic ways of being at a school on the coast of Kenya, writing a whole environmental curriculum and training people as engaged environmental educators.
Katherine is currently a full-time farmer and a mother, but in the past she was Head of Art at Mount House school in Tavistock, has a first class Masters Degree in Authorial Illustration and used to be an Associate Lecturer in Illustration at Plymouth University. Katherine has been farming at Warleigh for the past 30 years. She has designed the current stewardship scheme in place and manages the farm alongside all the other diversifications. She is currently working with the NFU as a Farm Ambassador within schools.
A 480-acre arable and livestock farm nestled in the heart of the Tamar Valley Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Devon. At Warleigh Barton you’re not only immersing yourself in nature, you’re supporting a family-run business truly dedicated to farming and working the land in harmony with nature.
Warleigh Barton, Tamerton Foliot, PL5 4LG
Telephone: 07969 070862
Booking and farm enquiries:
Environmental education and outreach enquiries:
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