Countryside Live at
Haydock Park Racecourse
10th March 2005

Review

Click to go back to Countryside Live website

Thanks to funding from the Countryside Agency and support from Haydock Park Racecourse, the Specialist Schools Trust and Myerscough College, The Countryside Foundation for Education was able to hold the first Countryside Live event to take place outside London, at Haydock Park Racecourse, Merseyside on Thursday 10th March 2005. Countryside Live is a country fair for school children, we bring the countryside to youngsters. 1,500 secondary and older primary children, together with their teachers, visited the Haydock Park Racecourse event. In 2005 the Countryside Foundation for Education will organise four such events, two of which have been made possible from funding from the Countryside Agency. 40 organisations exhibited at the Haydock Park Racecourse event and the children came and met a variety of animals, watched (and took part in) a full and varied arena programme and had a go at lots of hands-on activities which helped give them a taste of rural life. Some Arena activities... Gundog training Ferret racing Birds of prey

"What did the teachers think....?"

"Fantastic day out. No complaints at all. Children returned to school and have talked about it non stop. Can't wait for the next one!"

"An excellent day for children. Exciting, informative and very hands-on."

"Children were very excited about what they had seen. They will be keen to share their experiences with the rest of the school."

"All pupils said "it was all great" - what more can one ask?"

"We needed 2 days to do it all in!"

"One day was not enough, I would like to bring all year 7 (246 pupils) over two days."

"The children enjoyed the events in the arena - particularly the ferret race!"

"When we got back to school, it was the year 9 parents evening that night. I was delighted with the number of parents who came to find me to say how much their children had enjoyed the day."

"Thanks for organising such an inspiring and fascinating event."

"All the people at the event - organisers and exhibitors were approachable and informative."

"We'd like to thank everyone involved for their time and fantastic displays which really captivated our children and teachers alike."

Here are some of the exhibits Pole Lathe Turning with Woodworks Range of products from Woodworks   Making Dreamcatchers which was one of the activities provided by Groundwork   Learning all about Dragonflies with the British Dragonfly Society The Sheep Show Captivated spectators of The Sheep Show   Learning all about horse with Mysercough College Equine display Learning about Sportsturf with the Myerscough College display

"What did the Exhibitors think....?"

"Really impressed with the engagement the children had with the machinery. Both they and I learnt a huge amount about how to engage industry with children and vice versa."

"Organisation excellent - couldn't have asked for more."

"The event was very well organised. The children were very interested and seemed well briefed for the event."

"Lively, good mix of exhibits - everyone seemed to enjoy it."

"Very impressed - loads of fun - very well organised - professional people in every area. "

"Keep up the good work and standards."

"Excellent - what a fantastic idea to get youngsters interested in the countryside/conservation and perhaps future outdoor careers. "

"Plenty of interest from children who were well behaved."

"Very well organised and worthwhile event. Pupils seemed to be well 'primed' for event and made use of/interacted with exhibitors. "

"Very nice children and great fun."

"It worked very well, all the children appeared to have a great time. "

"This was a great day, worked with over 300 young people - verbal feedback from teachers and students was 100% positive."

"Well run and efficiently organised - the young people attending got a really diverse countryside experience. "

"Absolutely fantastic event, we would love to come again. I think we will gain a lot from attending. Good to have indoor and outdoor exhibits and the live shows were fabulous. Facilities, access and site were perfect."

"Very orderly - a good venue especially for that time of the year. The children were really receptive and asked very intelligent questions."

"The event was well organised. It was great to see the children reacting to their exciting new surroundings for the day. They all seemed to have many questions to ask, which was good."

Myerscough College Small Animal display Learning about floristry with Myerscough College   The 5ive-a-day way tell us all about healthy eating   Local Food First Merseyside with teacher helping in "Can't Cook Won't Cook" Learning about Wildlife Crime with Merseyside Police Meeting the ferrets with the National Gamekeepers Organisation   Learning all about fishing with The Joint Angling Development Board Getting up close to farm machinery with BAGMA (British Agriculture and Garden Machinery Association)

A big thank you to everyone involved
for helping to make the first
Countryside Live event in the North West
such a successful one.

Images by Action Shots

Click to go back to Countryside Live website