Glasshouse College, stourbridge

Glasshouse College is located on the site of a former Royal Dalton Glassworks in Stourbridge, the West Midlands. The glass cones and factory buildings have been transformed into a range of craft workshops, cafes, performing arts theatres, a heritage centre and spaces for community use. In addition to the suburban campus, Glasshouse College has 46 acres of farm and woodlands nearby that offer farming, animal care, forge work, and greenwood work activities.

Freeman College, sheffield

Freeman College is located in the Sterling Works in the heart of Sheffield. The Sterling Works was previously occupied by CW Fletcher and Sons who manufactured silver cutlery, tableware and trophies.

The area surrounding Freeman College has transformed from industrial factories into education and research buildings, including Sheffield Hallam University.

The College extends through the city to the Butcher Works, which is next door and houses the Academy of Makers and Fusion Café, Wentworth Factory, a short walk away and High Riggs, biodynamic gardens and woodlands, located in the greenbelt surrounding Sheffield. Merlin Theatre and Tintagel House are also used by Freeman College staff and students for the performing arts curriculum.

TY’r Eithin, carmarthen, wales

Ty’r Eithin offers exciting outdoor learning environments, utilising practical land and craft activities to support the development of work and life skills for both day and residential students aged 16-25, through Practical Skills Therapeutic Education. Building on the success of Coleg Plas Dwbl in North Pembrokeshire, Ruskin Mill Trust launched Ty’r Eithin, near Swansea in South Carmarthen, in September 2020.

Both colleges offer Ruskin Mill Trust’s innovative Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE) method giving young people the opportunity to overcome barriers to learning, become skilled through doing real life purposeful activities, and engage as valued members of the community

Ruskin Mill College, Gloucestershire

Ruskin Mill College is the founding college of Ruskin Mill Trust. Located in the Cotswolds, the 140 acre site includes wooded valley, a trout farm, market gardens, sustainably managed woodlands, and biodynamic farm. Nestled in amongst the landscape are craft workshops including pottery, forge, textiles, and woodwork. Horsley Mill is the administrative centre of Ruskin Mill College.

ARGENT COLLEGE, BIRMINGHAM

Argent College is located in the Standard Works building, in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Prior to Ruskin Mill Trust acquiring the Standard Works, the building had been left empty for nearly 20 years. The old jewellery factory has been transformed into a college, the highly commended Hive Café and Bakery, a heritage centre, community spaces and an urban rooftop micro farm.

The Jewellery Quarter has played an important part in the manufacturing and economic success of Birmingham since the 1800’s and Argent College is building on those historic connections and community relationships to provide students with cultural and vocational experiences that enrich their college life.

COLEG PLAS DWBL, PEMBROKESHIRE, wales

Coleg Plas Dwbl is located at the foot of the Preseli Hills on a rustic 100-acre farm, and offers a range of traditional craft activities, practical land work, animal care and catering.

Coleg Plas Dwbl is a working farm with cows, goats, sheep and chickens. The productive market garden supplies vegetables to local shops and the community. Students have opportunities to develop practical skills through a range of craft activities including clay work, basket weaving, woodworking and forge.

Students also work the land, helping with growing and harvesting vegetables and caring for the animals throughout the year.

Clervaux Garden School, Darlington

Clervaux Garden School is an innovative and exciting school. Situated on our 100-acre biodynamic farm, our holistic curriculum provides the skills, experience and context necessary for young people aged 10-19 years with complex social, emotional, behavioural, learning differences (including Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC)) and other disabilities to flourish and thrive in modern society. Our school is a place of therapeutic learning and growing which brings together hand, heart, head, and place to support personal development and progression.

The farmland at Clervaux contains a vibrant and diverse ecosystem, with hedges, meadows, ponds and large mature trees surrounding the school. The grounds also include woodlands, wetlands and grassland. Students and staff also care for a variety of livestock including sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and hens.

Sunfield school

Sunfield School is an independent specialist school and children’s home located on 58 acres in the beautiful Clent Hills in the West Midlands. We provide education, care, and therapy for children and young people with a variety of social, emotional, physical, and learning difficulties, including autism and visual impairment.

We encourage every child and young person at the school to spend time during their day outdoors; in the gardens, with the livestock on the farm and in the woodlands. Engaging in the natural environment, experiencing the seasons, helping to grow vegetables and fruit and meeting and caring for farm animals all provide opportunities for individual development.

Grace Garden School

Grace Garden School is a specialist Steiner school located on an 18 acre smallholding on the outskirts of Bristol. It offers a range of outdoor learning activities in practical land and craft work to support the education and development of children and young people. The curriculum braids together Practical Skills Therapeutic Education with elements of the National Curriculum, utilising the land, gardens and orchards to contextualise learning. The site offers rich natural sensory experiences and a calming environment.

Grace Garden School is set within over 18 acres of cultivated land, including grazing land, woodlands, orchard and vegetable gardens, large mature trees and a stream. There is a wide diversity of ecosystems within this, including woodlands and grassland.

BRANTWOOD SPECIALIST SCHOOL, SHEFFIELD

Brantwood Specialist School is located on the outskirts of Sheffield and in addition to the main campus, includes a smallholding, and theatre / performing arts space. Pupils also have access to the picturesque Eyam Outdoor Classroom in the Peak District.

Pupils at Brantwood participate in the Practical Skills Therapeutic Education curriculum which is braided with the national curriculum requirements. Maths, English science, history and geography are embedded into the traditional land and craft work, in a contextualised and practical way. Eyam smallholding offers horticulture, animal care, woodwork and forge in a tranquil outdoor environment.

gables farm, gloucestershire

Ruskin Mill College has a 40 acre biodynamic farm that has a range of livestock including pigs, sheep, chickens, bees and donkeys. On the farm and in the market garden, students work to produce vegetables and crops to be used in the canteens, cafes, farm shop and households, and to feed the animals. Students are also involved in caring for the animals throughout the year.

The farm and gardens provide valuable opportunities for students to develop empathy and an understanding of time, working with the seasonal rhythms.

Eyam Outdoor Classroom, Peak District

Our Eyam site sits above the village of Eyam at Highcliffe and is used by pupils at Brantwood Specialist School in Sheffield. It’s an appropriate name, as we are 1300ft above sea level on the top of Eyam Edge. This steep escarpment marks the division between the ‘White Peak’ and the ‘Dark Peak’ From a geological perspective the bedrock of the ‘White Peak’ is limestone, whereas the bedrock of the ‘Dark Peak’ is gritstone, a form of sandstone traditionally used to make grindstones.

One of the joys of the Eyam site is the passing of the seasons and the differences that brings. Working and learning outdoors is the only way to connect with this changing environment.

Vale Head Farm, south staffordshire

Vale Head Farm is a 38-acre biodynamic farm with animals and pasture, used by students at Glasshouse College in nearby Stourbridge.