Opening Times

930-4pm every day

What makes this a great venue for School group Fun or Educational Visits?

It's a hands-on opportunity to learn about all sorts of aspects of farming, foods and animals.
Schools booked in for tours get to handle the pets; depending on the focus of their tour they may get to carry out simple farm tasks such as feeding the calf, collecting eggs. Workshops provide a hands-on opportunity to learn about subjects such as making flour.

What are the Curriculum Topics or Benefit to the students from a visit?

A visit to the farm covers several areas of the primary and nursery curricula such as science, geography; we aim for a cross curricula approach to fit in with new Curriculum for Excellence and so we offer active learning activities such as poetry days & craft sessions ; We can also meet Secondary School needs. Our sustainable living work, gardening, composting & recycling are for all ages.
We welcome visits from special schools.

What are the activities?

We offer guided tours for nurseries, schools and other groups.Tours usually allow touching and feeding of some livestock. We can gear the tour to your choice of topic be it 'New Life', 'Caring for Animals', or 'Food and Farming'.
As well as guided tours, you can take part in a 'workshop'. These last 2 hours and combine the guided tour with an activity.
City Farm: Global Farm
A new interactive workshop 'City Farm : Global Farm', run jointly with VETAID, an Edinburgh based charity, is designed to complement the curriculum. Suitable for Primary 4 to 7, it will develop understanding of the challenges faced by food producers and rural communities around the world, and the influences we have on them. The project expands the use of the farm as an educational resource while promoting both local and global citizenship.

What is the age range of the activities?

3 to 16 depending on focus. We often also have college students, art students etc.

Sample programme of the activities:

A good example is our 'Harvest' workshop, where pupils tour the farm learning about the importance of cereals as food for us and our animals, then, in the classroom, they thrash and winnow wheat; mill the grains to make flour. We then (using clean flour!) make and eat pancakes.

What are the minimum and maximum group sizes and the free Teacher Ratio?

Ideal group size is between 10 and 30 but we are happy to accept larger or smaller groups by agreement.There is no charge for accompanying teachers.

Do you have or how do you arrange risk assessment?

We have a model risk assessment that we give to schools for their use when they book their visit. We also have our own farm risk assessments.

Do you offer Teacher familiarisation days?

Gorgie City Farm has free entry all year round. Teachers may visit at any time. They are also welcome to contact us to arrange a pre visit meeting with one of the education team.

What facilities are there for school groups for food and drink, shop etc?

We have a room that can be booked for lunch and to store bags etc. The Farm also has a cafe,drinks machines and a picnic area.

Is specific clothing required?

Clothing must be suitable for the weather. Footwear should be sensible.

Do you have first aid on site?

Yes

Additional information.

We are a charity and rely on the support and generosity of our visitors.