Cogges Manor Farm

Cogges Manor Farm in Witney, Oxfordshire provides 1000 years of history – perfect for educational historical learning. The site appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 with a listed Manor House dating back to the 13th Century and 18th Century farm buildings. Human activity has been evidenced onsite since the Saxon period so it has a wealth of history to draw from in relation to educational opportunities.

Cogges being a farm and being close to the River Windrush, also has opportunities to explore other subjects including, Maths, English, Science and Citizenship. With over 17 acres of land, Cogges is ideally situated to provide opportunities for children and young people to access and enjoy outdoor learning.

Each session is led by our trained Educational Facilitators and supported by volunteers. It has been carefully constructed to work in line with the National Curriculum covering key subject areas including history, geography, mathematics, literacy, citizenship, science and design.

Our aim is to harness the unique environment at Cogges Manor Farm and create interactive, hands-on learning experiences to inspire children of all ages. Our sessions bring children and young people into contact with the tranquillity of nature, our animals and historic environment, and promote outdoor learning and wellbeing. All of our sessions are adaptable for children with additional needs.

The staff at Cogges Manor Farm feel passionately about educating and inspiring the next generations. We believe that our Schools Education Programme has something for everyone and we feel strongly about including all children in our sessions so that they feel excited and engaged with what they have learned. Our sessions cover many aspects of the National Curriculum and can be tailored to your needs.

We are open for school visits year round.

Cogges offers an exciting year round Schools Education Programme with 11 different programmes covering age ranges from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to KS2. We offer full or half day sessions tailored to the needs of the school and curriculum.

The programmes are as follows:

EYFS – KS1 (half day sessions from 10am – 12.30pm)

1. Old MacDonald – Story and Rhyme
2. Little Red Hen and Farmyard Friends
3. Jack and the Beanstalk
4. Stick Day

KS1 – KS2 (can be half days or full days ending at 2pm)

1. Wildlife and Growing – seasonally tailored
2. Time Travellers – covers Victorians or Anglo Saxons (can be a full or Half Day session)
3. Practical Maths
4. Outside Adventures
5. Enchanted Cogges
6. Farming for Food
7. Christmas Traditions

Each programme includes a variety of different activities for the children to rotate through. Each session is themed around the topic for the day, located in the house or around the site. They could involve, for example, shelter building, baking, laundry, storytelling, measuring, weighing and planting. Each activity takes inspiration from the resident farm animals, the woodland, walled kitchen garden and 13th century Manor House.

We take a maximum of 60 children, in groups of 12.

We encourage teachers to get in touch prior to the day to discuss any specific requirements you might have for the day and how the sessions can support your classroom-based learning.

Children are welcome to take photos, video or audio.

Cogges can provide teachers with risk assessments for our activities and can offer pre-arranged site visits prior to the day. You can also download the latest risk assessments from our website at cogges.org.uk/plan-your-school-visit-resources

Call: Pete Stubbs on 01993 772602 or email: learning@cogges.org.uk

• A half-day session is £54 (10am, – 12.30pm) per group of 12 (maximum 5 groups)
• A full day is £78 per group of 12 (10am – 2pm)

No, but we would recommend coming dressed appropriately for the weather.

Cogges has a first aider on site.

Facilities are available for your group to eat their own packed lunches.

Picnic tables are available in the Orchard and there are also tables under cover in front of the large barn.

Cafe is open at specific times (please contact us for more information)

We also have a gift shop, toilets, an adventure playground and a large free car park (OX28 3FR)

Reasonable adjustments have been made to enable access to the manor house and grounds and we are able to alter activities for school visits to make them available in most cases. The toilets are also wheelchair accessible.

We have a limited number of learning leaders with SEN experience so the school visit would need to be booked well in advance if this is a requirement.

The education sessions run 10am-12.30pm (half day) or 10am – 2pm (full day), Monday to Friday.

“I have been bringing my classes to Cogges farm for over 5 years. It is the most magical and inspirational place.” Elena Fletcher, Class Teacher, Christ church cathedral School, October 2021

“The venue at Cogges is just beautiful and the staff create a wonderful Nurturing environment for our children to feel free to learn and explore.” Charlotte Goble, Banbury Home Educators, September 2021

“Really child friendly, hands on, staff that understand children and are most accommodating. A lovely location, especially to learn about past and present.” Jenny Meller, Class Teacher, Woodstock Primary School. July 2021

“Making Welsh Cakes and feeding goats – a perfect day. The hands-on experiences, for example, grating the soap, washing the clothes and using a mangle, helped the children to really connect with what life was like. They children thoroughly enjoyed the day.” Yvonne Kyriacou, Rose Hill Primary School, July 2021

“Our children loved their day at Cogges. They gained valuable knowledge through hands on learning that they would not have got in school. The leaders were polite, kind and very knowledgeable on the topic they were instructing. They were great with the children and willing to spend time allowing the children to experience things they may not have seen or done before.” Tom Williams, Class Teacher, Eynsham Community Primary School, June 2021