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Volunteer talking to a school visit
Education programme
School visits

for Early Years Foundation Stage through to KS2

Schools education programme

Visit Cogges for a unique, hands-on learning experience and your pupils will take away much more than just a memorable experience, be that baking in an old farmhouse kitchen, sowing seeds in the historic walled garden or exploring animal habitats. Our choice of education sessions provide huge scope for follow up work back in the classroom too.

  • Indoor and outdoor education programme available all year round
  • Caters for different age ranges and abilities, from EYFS through to KS2
  • Full or half-day sessions can be tailored to the needs of your school and the curriculum
  • Local to Oxford, easy to get to and large free car park accessible to coaches
  • Dedicated picnic area for children to refuel hungry tummies

Our prices are kept low to enable as many children as possible to experience the unique environment at Cogges. The cost of a half day session is £90 per group of 12 pupils or £110 per group for the full day. Maximum 5 groups or 60 children. Half day sessions run from 10am - 12.30pm. Full day sessions run from 10am - 2pm (includes a break for lunch). If you need to organise transport to Cogges, schools are eligible for a 10% discount with Worths Coaches by quoting discount code COGGES10.

To book any of our sessions or to arrange a preview visit, please contact 01993 772602 or learning@cogges.org.uk

Unique Cogges

Our aim is to harness the unique environment at Cogges and create interactive learning experiences to inspire children of all ages. Our sessions bring children and young people into contact with the tranquillity of nature, our animals and historic environment, and promotes outdoor learning and wellbeing. All of our sessions are adaptable for children with additional needs.

Our programme sessions

Each session is led by trained educational facilitators and our volunteers in line with the National Curriculum covering key subject areas including history, geography, mathematics, literacy, citizenship, science and design. Choose from one of the sessions from our existing education programme or work with us to create an engaging session bespoke to the needs of your school.

Half Day activities can be made longer by a visit to Cogges grounds and adventure playground, supervised by school staff. All half day visits are welcome to stay on site for lunch. There is a café open daily or bring a picnic. Cogges is an enclosed site. During the open season the grounds are open to the public from 9.30am.

boy baking in apron

Really child friendly, hands on, staff that understand children and are most accommodating. A lovely location, especially to learn about past and present - Woodstock Primary School

Teachers

To check availability and make a booking, please email learning@cogges.org.uk

Early Years Foundation Stage  - Key Stage 1 (Half Day)

Specially designed to engage younger children, these half day sessions run from 10am - 12.30pm. Each session costs £90 per group. Groups of 12 children, maximum 5 groups or 60 children.

Jack and the Bean Stalk 

An exploration of the story of Jack and the Bean stalk. Children will look at growing from a seed, making a bed, finding some eggs, creating baked impressions of the giant’s footprints and milking the model cow. This is a lively and interactive session where all children are involved. Including a special puppet surprise at the end!

Old MacDonald – Story and Rhyme

A fun and interactive tour of the farm where children will learn through stories and rhymes about the different animals and the different aspects of farming. Children take a tour of the whole of the site and are introduced to and learn about the different animals. They take part in stories, songs and rhymes associated with the animals and their journey is tied together through Old MacDonald had a farm. This is a fun and stimulating session and brings a host of key learning areas to life. Including a special puppet surprise at the end.

Little Red Hen and Farmyard Friends 

Designed to give younger children an understanding of where food comes from and how it is made. Based on the story of Little Red Hen, children look at growing from a seed, grinding flour and baking bread. This is a lively and interactive session where all children are involved. Including a special puppet surprise at the end.

Stick Day

A lovely session where children can build their confidence with creativity. We look at specific books such as ‘Stanley’s Stick’ and ‘Stickman’ to engage with them at a deeper level, immersing them in the idea that sticks can be anything. Children will create shelters with sticks and create breadsticks to take home. This is a creative session to encourage children to have fun outdoors, including a special puppet surprise at the end.

Early Years Foundation Stage - Key Stage 2 (Half Day or Full Day)

Key Stage 1 - Key Stage 2 (Full Day or Half Day)

Wildlife and Growing

To establish in children an understanding and appreciation of the natural environment around them. The interdependence of all creatures and food chains. Seeking out animal habitats, learning about plants and taking a hands-on role in planting their seedling and making their own compost. This is a fun, outdoor session which can be tailored to the different seasons of the year.

Time Travellers, Victorians or Anglo Saxons 

To immerse and engage children in our historical past and leave them with a feeling of awe and understanding at how our ancestors lived their everyday lives. This is an interactive and lively history based session, which keeps children fully engaged. The programme is flexible and can be tailored to focus on the Anglo Saxon or Victorian period as well as on local history if required. Sessions include hands on activities such as Victorian Laundry, making the bed, decoding and making runes, making Welsh cakes or flatbreads, grinding grain, shelter building. Please discuss your specific requirements with us.

Practical Maths 

To immerse and engage children with maths on a practical level. Maths is everywhere we look, and finding shapes throughout the farm, measuring ingredients and weighing animal feed are all practical ways that maths is used in everyday life. 

Outside Adventures 

Designed to immerse and engage children with outdoor learning in a practical way. This could be seen as a taster day to a forest school experience with a range of activities from building a shelter to cooking over a fire to having fun with sticks and creating art in nature.

Enchanted Cogges 

A light hearted exploration of Cogges, using the imagination to find ‘fairies’, create woodland creatures and environmental art, plant seeds and build shelters.

Key Stage 2 only (Full Day)

This full day session costs £110 per group. Groups of 12 children, maximum 5 groups or 60 children.

Farming for Food 

To enhance the children’s understanding of farming and the provenance of healthy and environmentally sustainable food production. Considering how our choices impact the planet e.g. air miles and ethical choices that need to be made to feed an ever increasing population.

Key stage 3 programmes are currently under development.

Contact us to discuss your options.

 

"What a brilliant day.  Everyone seemed really relaxed and happy today, in lots of ways the best kind of school trip: interesting, engaging, tricky, rewarding."

St Barnabas’ CofE Primary School, July 2022

 

 

We just wanted to say a huge Thank you to you all, for our visit. The children had such a wonderful time, talking enthusiastically today about what they have learnt. We found the group leaders to be cheerful, welcoming, knowledgeable and very patient. The activities were fun and engaging and the group leaders made adaptations on the spot for children that needed extra support to take part, recognising immediately who those children were. Thank you again, we hope to come back soon! 

The Farmhouse Nursery School, June 2022

 

“I have been bringing my classes to Cogges farm for over 5 years. It is the most magical and inspirational place.”

Elena Fletcher, Class Teacher, Christ church cathedral School, October 2021

 

“The venue at Cogges is just beautiful and the staff create a wonderful Nurturing environment for our children to feel free to learn and explore.”

Charlotte Goble, Banbury Home Educators, September 2021

 

“Really child friendly, hands on, staff that understand children and are most accommodating. A lovely location, especially to learn about past and present.”

Jenny Meller, Class Teacher, Woodstock Primary School. July 2021

 

“Making Welsh Cakes and feeding goats - a perfect day. The hands-on experiences, for example, grating the soap, washing the clothes and using a mangle, helped the children to really connect with what life was like. They children thoroughly enjoyed the day.”

Yvonne Kyriacou, Rose Hill Primary School, July 2021

 

“Our children loved their day at Cogges. They gained valuable knowledge through hands on learning that they would not have got in school. The leaders were polite, kind and very knowledgeable on the topic they were instructing. They were great with the children and willing to spend time allowing the children to experience things they may not have seen or done before.”

Tom Williams, Class Teacher, Eynsham Community Primary School, June 2021

 

"Thank you for our recent Little Red Hen visit. Whilst the weather was not pleasant, it didn't deter the boys excitement and enthusiasm. All but one was asleep on the short journey home! Thank you for making everything as safe as possible for us, we all felt completely safe."

Linda Gaskell, Abingdon Preparatory School, October 2020

 

"I just wanted to thank you and your team for our visit today. The children had a great day and learnt so much. We still had all the experiences that we had on previous visits and we felt very safe with all the measures that were in place. The weather was an added bonus!"

Judith Fisher, Year 1 teacher, St Hugh's School, Faringdon - September, 2020

 

"We were very impressed with our visit to Cogges Farm. It was very well organised, and beautifully resourced. Children were highly engaged, and enjoyed every bit - but particularly the natural art session. I don't know why we haven't been before!"

Francesca Jenkins, EYFS Coordinator St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Oxford

 

"It was a lovely trip, the children were wowed by how much they found out. The activities were engaging and exciting and we had lots of fun. Thank you to all the staff they were great and very helpful. We will definitely plan on coming back next year."

Sophie Monk, Wheatley CE Primary School

We’re looking for teachers to join our Teacher Panel to help shape our Schools Education Programme. Cogges Manor Farm is a much-loved heritage resource for local schools and we’ve created this community to keep in touch with teachers and leaders in education. Your opinions and feedback will help us make sure we continue to meet the needs of all children, from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 2. We anticipate the need for no more than one contact per half term to feedback on resources or participate in surveys and discussions. *In return for your commitment to the Cogges Teacher Panel, we'd offer you free admission to Cogges plus 25% off one visit per term for your school. *Terms and conditions apply.

Register you interest by emailing learning@cogges.org.uk

Download our Teacher Panel leaflet for more information or see below

Cogges Teacher Panel

We have put together some helpful tips for you to plan your visit to Cogges. You can also download our SCHOOL RESOURCES.

Choosing a session

  • Identify the curriculum areas that you want to focus on.
  • Look through the list of sessions we can offer and identify those which you think might link to your curriculum areas.
  • What is the topic you are studying? Which session(s) fits your topic?

Booking a session

  • Give us a call or drop us an email to discuss your specific requirements.
    Let us know your school name, full contact details, what date you might like to book a visit and the age group and number of pupils you are planning to bring.
  • Once we have taken your booking, we will send you a confirmation document along with information on how to get the best out of your visit. This information can also be found on the website. We will attach Risk Assessments for your specific sessions and copy in our Resources Manager to generate the invoice for the visit.

Preparation before your visit

  • If you have any questions or want to arrange a pre-visit, just get in touch and we can arrange a time to suit you. You can also bring along family if it makes things easier.
  • We are always available for questions you might have in the run up to your visit.
  • Make sure that you are aware that handwashing and toilet facilities are not specifically just for schools.
  • Ensure that your children are prepared for their visit. We suggest you show them where Cogges is on a map, discuss the programme of activity with them and perhaps cover some of the themes or aspects of the activity prior to the visit.
  • Ensure parents know how to prepare their children for their visit. Most importantly, your group should ensure that they dress appropriately and wear sensible shoes.  This includes adults. Please ensure appropriate protection is provided for children in the event of a very wet or very sunny day.
  • Discuss the visit with all your adult helpers beforehand so that they know what is expected of them and how it will support the pupils on their visit. We would like adult helpers to show an interest in the session, to encourage children to listen, to turn mobile phones to silent mode and remain with their group to help and make sure that children are safe at all times.
  • You may want to bring along a device to take photos to record your visit - please ask facilitators and volunteers before taking pictures where they are included.

How to find us and arrival

  • Cogges Manor Farm is signposted as Cogges Manor Farm Museum from the main road.  Coaches can park in the main car park - the postcode for the main car park is OX28 3FR. Please ensure that your coach driver takes you to the correct main car park for disembarkation (it is not off Church Lane). It can be difficult to return to the coach park from the site if you did not disembark at the main car park. The coach park is along a pedestrian path next to a school and onto a small lane. Once on the lane you take the next left into a yard in front of the entrance to Cogges. Gather the group together so that the leader can notify the staff at the entrance that you have arrived. The staff will ensure your facilitators (if they are not already waiting for you) are located.
  • You will then be taken through to the farm, gathered together and given the opportunity for a snack break and for everyone to visit the toilet. A short Health and Safety talk and introduction will then be given.
  • Usual time of arrival is 10am.

How to prepare your pupils for the visit

  • Visiting a site like Cogges can be very exciting for children and their adult helpers. We expect children to be excited on their visit and we do welcome this but please remind children (especially if visiting between March and November) that there are other people enjoying Cogges too.
  • Each small group of up to 12 pupils will have a dedicated facilitator to take them through their activities for the day. It is helpful to have organised the small groups of up to 12 prior to arrival as this helps to speed up the process of getting everyone started on their first activity.
  • The day runs to a timetable which we are happy to share if you feel this would be useful, however we do warn you that if visits are affected by transport or traffic issues, we may have to change the planned delivery of the session.
  • The session is usually five activities that each group rotates through and all groups get to do the same activities but in different orders. Half Day sessions mean activities are shorter.
  • A reminder about behaviour - you are responsible for maintaining class discipline, but facilitators will support you with this where they can.

Lunch arrangements

  • If you are visiting for a Full or Half Day session you are welcome onsite for lunch. Cogges has a number of picnic areas, including one that is under cover, and you are welcome to use these spaces for lunch. If the weather is particularly cold, we will try to accommodate you in a warm space.
  • Lunch time varies. For half day sessions it is always following the end of the activities at around 12.30pm. We can reduce the number of activities if you want this lunch break to be earlier - just have a chat with us on booking.
  • Please ensure all waste is taken home or disposed of in the bins provided.