Teenager takes farming education into the classroom

An 18-year-old Staffordshire student has launched a campaign to get agriculture taught in schools after discovering how little his classmates knew about food production.

Oliver Bridges, a sixth-form pupil at the Friary School in Lichfield, organised a week of agricultural awareness activities, including assemblies and machinery displays, to highlight the challenges facing British farmers.

See also: New agriculture BTEC aims to open farming careers to pupils

Although not from a farming family, Oliver has grown up around agriculture and spent the 2026 harvest working on cereal and potato farms, sometimes completing 15-hour shifts.

Returning to school, he was struck by the lack of understanding among fellow pupils.

“I was going back to school, and people just haven’t got a clue, which I can sort of understand in a way because it isn’t in the curriculum,” he said.

Determined to change that, Oliver approached his headteacher for permission to deliver four assemblies covering agricultural economics, environmental challenges, the ageing farming workforce, and food production.

© The Friary School

He also arranged for machinery to be brought onto the school grounds, including a Massey Ferguson 7S, John Deere 6150R and Case 300, alongside a variable-rate fertiliser spreader and topper.

“I managed to get the staff car park closed and just filled that. It was quite spectacular.”

Oliver said the initiative received positive feedback from teachers and pupils, but his main ambition was to encourage young people to think differently about British food.

“If three people in that 300 get a strong message from it and start buying locally from farmers’ markets, start recognising British food in supermarkets, then I think I’ve done my job quite well.”

© The Friary School

Farming pressures

His harvest experience also highlighted the financial uncertainty facing farm businesses and while he thoroughly enjoyed working on farms, Oliver became increasingly aware of the pressures facing farmers.

“I was thinking if I was doing this all year-round full time, and then making a loss, just how bad that would affect my mental health and just my life really.”

He now wants agricultural education to become a compulsory part of the secondary school curriculum, alongside subjects such as drug and alcohol awareness and sexual health.

“With agriculture being such a difficult environment for farmers across the country and the globe, I think it would be very important to include that in the curriculum and have a week dedicated to recognising those struggles and those difficulties and getting people into talks and maybe getting equipment in,” he said.

‘A day to remember’

Headteacher Mark Drury said the school was “really proud of Olly”.

“We already knew Oliver as thoughtful and articulate student – last year he was part of the debate team which won the district inter-school competition held in Lichfield Cathedral and hosted by Dave Robertson MP.

“So when he suggested getting involved in our Focus Week assemblies on World Food Day, we knew he would engage other students with his passionate views on the hard work of our country’s food producers.

“Of course, his arranging the visit of three tractors was the icing on the cake, and his hard work made it a day for other students to remember,” he added.