Discovering Our Countryside is a modular approach to the seasonality of rural affairs. Agricultural content covers crops, from seed to harvesting, through to how food reaches the table; livestock rearing, including birth, milking, and rearing; and how often large and overpowering vehicles and farm machines work. And the programmes also include the importance of wildlife, including mice, rabbits, hares, badgers, foxes etc. through to the vast range of birds that are often seen as just distant wings on the horizon, as well as flowers, shrubs and trees.

Agriculture and rural life goes on all year round, and Discovering Our Countryside captures this seasonality.

Whilst many schools operate farm visits, these are invariably held during term time and usually when better weather can be expected, but farming goes on day after day through all the seasons. Discovering Our Countryside not only brings autumn, winter, spring and summer right into the classroom, but it also allows pupils to get ‘up close and personal’ with such activities as milking, sowing and harvesting, and gets closer to farm machinery than any risk assessment will allow.