The CEI El Jarama farm school, located in Talamanca de Jarama (Madrid) is a space specially designed to educate children and young people about rural life, with areas featuring farm animals, gardens and orchards, and thematic classrooms.
Our farm school facilities are located in the center of Talamanca, surrounded by willows, alders, elms, poplars, ashes and oak trees, along the beautiful banks of the Jarama River, which allows us to enjoy direct contact with Nature and the environment.
Our farm school’s main aim is for boys and girls to enjoy the opportunity to be exposed to rural life and engage in activities related to care for animals and work in gardens and orchards.
Here young people have the chance to enjoy participating in workshops on the elaboration of foods like cheese, bread and cookies, in addition to transforming primary products through our workshops on aromatic plants and soap production.
At the CEI Farm School we have spaces for animals. It is important to underscore that our animals enjoy hygienic conditions and are closely monitored to protect their welfare.
We have spaces for hens and chickens, different breeds of goats and sheep, horses, ponies and donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs, cows and calves, about which the children are able to learn by participating in their daily care.
Visiting the farm is a great opportunity for children to come into direct contact with animals, being able to touch them, listen to them, and observe their behavior. They will also understand the utility of farm animals to human beings.
The farm school is designed mainly for Pre-school and Primary school children.
We offer one-day or multi-day visit programs – usually 2 or 3 nights for small children. Within these scheduling parameters the activity program can be tailored according to your teaching staff’s goals.
For both visits and stays we organize a lineup of farm school activities, but we also offer teachers the chance to choose a certain thematic area related to the subject(s) that they are covering in class. In this way we strive to support the teachers using our facilities.
ACTIVITIES AT THE FARM SCHOOL (EXAMPLES):
- Tour to see farm animals
- Visiting the orchard: vegetables and produce
- A pony or donkey ride
- An outing in a boat
- “Butt-breaker” slide
- Horseback riding
The thematic areas to chose from revolve around taking care of animals and agricultural activities typical of rural life, like milking cows, growing cereals and producing foods, tending to hens and collecting eggs, farm work, beekeeping, working with sheep and wool production. We allow visitors to choose the area they are most interested in, or to even suggest something new.
CEI El Jarama is a member of the Community of Madrid Association of Farms Schools (AGECAM), an institution created by the area’s different nature centers to ensure quality education amongst its members, and the offering of appropriate educational programs adapted to support and complement current Pre-school and Primary School curricula.
