Brymore School is a secondary school England specialising in rural technology 13 to 17 years

Brymore School is a secondary school in Cannington, Bridgwater, Somerset, England specialising in rural technology. It is an upper school with students from 13 to 17 years and has 152 boys on the roll as of January 2012,150 of them boarders. It was established in 1951 by Somerset County Council at a cost of £6,000 as a Secondary Technical School of Agriculture.

The school is equipped with an organic farm, walled garden, greenhouses and workshops including a foundry and forge.The farm includes a dairy herd, beef animals, sows, poultry and a flock of ewes with lambs.

The main school building incorporates parts of a medieval house which was owned by John Pym who, during the English Civil War played a role in bringing about the downfall of Charles I.In World War II girls of Malvern College were evacuated to Brymore. In 1943 the 535th Automatic Weapons battalion of the US Army was billeted in the house and grounds while they prepared for D Day.The building is designated as a Grade II listed building. The boarding houses included the Grade I listed Cannington Court.Brymore School has a 110 acre farm, making it one of the largest school farms in the country. The livestock on the farm includes a dairy herd, beef animals, pig herd including pedigree rare breeds, poultry and a flock of ewes with lambs. Cropping is mainly designed for the dairy herd, but as many other crops as possible are grown on a small scale in the farm or gardens

What makes the farm at Brymore unique is that it is run by the students themselves, overseen by the Farm Manager Paul Kingston. Every boy must complete farm duties each term starting at 6.30am every morning and again after school, overseen by senior students known as Heads of Department. Milking, feeding, scraping out, fence making, hedge laying, tractor driving (all students must take a test), chainsawing (older students only), cattle showing and livestock management are all activities carried out by the students.

Students are taught beyond gaining qualifications (although results are outstanding) and we ensure our practice meets industrial standards, whilst maintaining financial autonomy on the farm. Our milk is sold through Dairy Crest, and our meat and eggs are sold through the farm shop and at the nearby Blackmore Farm. The farm, along with the gardens, form the backbone of the schools aim of instilling responsibility within the students to prepare them for the world of work, both within the land based sector and beyond.

Curriculum The school operates six days a week with a full working day on a Saturday with timetabled classes in the morning and a choice of extra -curricular activities in the afternoon. In Year 9 students are streamed for most subjects before being set more closely in Years 10 and 11 according to their ability.

Students are set separately in english, maths science and practically (agriculture, horticulture and technology) to reflect their differing strengths in these subjects. Class sizes are small (approximately 16) with at least one other learning support assistant in most classes. In practical subjects there can be as many as four adults working with one class.

Students follow the National Curriculum in Year 9 with added ‘Brymore’ elements – i.e. English, mathematics, science, geography, history, a modern foreign language, agriculture, horticulture, art, religious education, design and technology, information technology, physical education, games and personal, social and health education. The taught curriculum is supplemented heavily by a vast range of extra-curricular activities, which can be viewed in the activity section of the website.

In years 10 and 11 all students follow a GCSE or equivalent programme in english, maths, science, ICT, history, art, design and technology, agriculture and horticulture ensuring students leave with up to thirteen qualifications. In addition students have lessons in physical education, games and PSHRE. In Year 12 students are able to study any of the huge range of courses on offer at Bridgwater College with many choosing to study at the Cannington centre. This is supplemented by courses at Brymore such as blacksmithing, hedge laying and use of a chain saw.

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