LEAF Demonstration Schools
TEACHER’S GUIDE Guidance & support for schools taking part in the LEAF Demonstration School journey.
Find what you need Start with the overview or go straight to the stage your school is working towards. New to LEAF Demonstration Schools? What is a Demonstration School? Your School’s Journey
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Go straight to your stage Pledge: begin your journey Bronze: put your pledge into action Silver: deepen your impact Gold: lead & inspire
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Further guidance Preparing for your LEAF review Support throughout your journey
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What is a Demonstration School? The LEAF Demonstration Schools programme helps schools make food, farming and sustainability a meaningful part of curriculum learning and wider school life. Food and farming provide relevant, real-world contexts for exploring issues such as climate change, biodiversity, food security, land use and the responsible use of resources. They also help pupils connect classroom learning with the people, places and decisions involved in producing food. The programme builds on what schools already do, helping them make stronger connections across subjects and use food and farming to enrich existing curriculum learning. It develops at a manageable pace, complements existing school priorities rather than introducing a separate initiative, and requires no prior expertise in food, farming or sustainability. Through the programme, schools can: make curriculum learning more relevant through food and farming; build staff knowledge and confidence; give pupils opportunities to learn from farmers, growers and working farms; develop practical learning, pupil voice and leadership; bring existing food, farming and sustainability work together within a clear framework; gain recognition and, as practice develops, share effective approaches with others.
LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) is a charity that promotes and supports more sustainable farming, helping to create a resilient food and farming system for future generations. Our work includes LEAF Marque, our environmental assurance system, alongside education that helps children and young people connect with food, farming and the people, places and decisions involved in producing it.
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Your School’s Journey Every school starts with a Pledge. From there, Bronze, Silver and Gold recognise how practice develops over time.
The Pledge is the starting point and can be completed at any time. It can begin with one teacher and one class, although some schools choose to involve a wider group or the whole school. It helps you recognise what is already happening and set a clear direction. It does not require a sustained period of activity. Bronze, Silver and Gold usually reflect development across a school year or longer. As schools progress, learning becomes more connected, engagement deepens and confidence grows. Throughout the journey, LEAF supports schools through professional development, curriculum resources, virtual and in-person farm experiences, and guidance from LEAF Education Specialists. Each stage has a defined set of criteria focused on practice, learning and impact rather than the volume of activity. The Pledge review can be completed at any time; Bronze, Silver and Gold reviews are normally completed towards the end of the school year.
At Bronze, Silver and Gold, if the review shows that the criteria have been met, your school achieves that stage. There is no requirement to move on each year. You can progress when the next stage feels right, or remain at your current stage while continuing to develop.
LEAF Demonstration Schools
Already taking part? Go straight to the criteria and guidance for your stage: Pledge – page 5 Bronze – page 6 Silver – page 7 Gold – page 8
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Pledge: begin your journey The Pledge helps you recognise what is already happening and set a clear, realistic direction. It can begin with one teacher and one class, although some schools choose to involve a wider group or the whole school from the outset. It is about establishing intent rather than demonstrating sustained activity.
Criteria
Guidance
Review your school’s current approach to food, farming, and sustainability. Use the simple LEAF review to understand where you are now and identify opportunities for improvement.
This is an honest snapshot, not an evaluation. Reflect on what is already happening in lessons, enrichment or sustainability work, even if this feels small or informal. It is useful to identify gaps and uncertainties.
Make a pledge to embed food, farming, and sustainability in school life. Commit to taking practical steps that bring these themes into everyday teaching and activities.
Your pledge sets a direction rather than targets. A clear, realistic focus rooted in what your school already does is enough at this stage.
Support pupils to make their own sustainability pledge. Encourage pupil voice by helping them create personal pledges using LEAF’s pledge lesson resources.
Pupil pledges support reflection and learning. They can be spoken, written, shared or private, and may emerge from a single lesson or discussion.
Share your LEAF pledge with your Sustainability Lead or SLT, and start a conversation about how food and farming could play a bigger role in your school’s sustainability work.
This helps connect your pledge with wider school priorities and creates an early opportunity for shared planning.
Share your commitment with the school community. Communicate your pledge using “Look for the LEAF” or “We’ve taken the LEAF pledge” resources to make it visible.
Make your pledge visible in a way that suits your school, for example through a newsletter, noticeboard, website update or similar communication.
Need help making your pledge? Find guidance, examples and the pupil lesson resource on the Demonstration Schools webpage (see page 10).
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Bronze: put your pledge into action Bronze builds on your Pledge and moves your work into practical activity. The emphasis is on trying things out, building confidence and developing practice through experience.
Criteria
Guidance
Attend a LEAF Education CPD session (online).
Choose CPD relevant to your priorities, with practical ideas to use in school.
Identify and deliver at least one lessonbased activity within your curriculum that explores food production and sustainable farming.
Use an existing curriculum opportunity. This might be a single lesson or short sequence; LEAF and Countryside Classroom resources can help.
Take part in a LEAF virtual farm visit.
Link the visit to curriculum learning and follow it with discussion or reflection.
Plan and deliver an activity or event such as a themed day, assembly, or celebration that highlights food production, farming, or sustainability for the wider school community. Collect and display pupil sustainability pledges or actions.
Use the activity to raise awareness across the school, for example through an assembly, display or celebration.
These can be displayed temporarily in the classroom or digitally. LEAF pledge resources are available.
Review your school grounds with pupils to identify existing habitats, note current biodiversity, and highlight opportunities for improvement linked to growing, land use or food production.
Involve pupils in observing what is there and suggesting opportunities for development. Notes or photographs can capture their ideas.
Promote your LEAF-linked events or partnership to families and the wider community.
Share what is happening through a suitable school channel, such as a newsletter, website or social post.
Review your school’s approach using the LEAF Bronze review, noting any early links to your wider sustainability work.
Reflect on developments during the year and links to wider sustainability work. Informal notes can help with the review.
Find current online CPD & virtual farm visits on page 10.
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Silver: deepen your impact Silver builds on Bronze by making practice more connected and deliberate. Learning extends across more than one subject or phase, pupil involvement deepens and staff confidence supports wider engagement.
Criteria
Guidance
With support from LEAF, facilitate CPD (whole-school, departmental or on-farm) focused on food, farming, or sustainability. Give staff practical ideas to embed these themes in their teaching.
Work with a LEAF Education Specialist to plan CPD tailored to your school’s needs and priorities.
Embed food, farming, and sustainability across the curriculum. Use curriculum mapping, action research, or pupil-led initiatives.
Show deliberate use of food and farming contexts across more than one subject or phase. Existing schemes and resources can support this.
Support pupils to lead improvements to the school environment through food systems, farming or use of the school grounds.
Pupil leadership should be age-appropriate and supported. Pupils might suggest ideas, review spaces or take part in guided actions.
Take part in a farm visit that explores food production and sustainable farming.
Work with LEAF to identify a suitable farm and plan a visit that builds on classroom learning.
Share an example of good practice with another school or local network. Inspire collaboration and wider engagement.
Choose a practical way to share what has worked with another school or local network, such as a conversation, short case study or resource share.
Review your school’s approach using the LEAF Silver review, reflecting on how food and farming are beginning to contribute to your wider sustainability goals.
Bring together reflection on curriculum, pupil voice and partnerships. Brief notes or examples can support the review.
Working towards Silver? LEAF will contact you to arrange Education Specialist support for the elements of the criteria where this is needed.
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Gold: lead & inspire Gold recognises sustained practice and leadership developed over time. Food, farming and sustainability are clearly embedded, and your school contributes to wider learning beyond its own setting.
Criteria
Guidance
Evidence that food, farming, and sustainability are priorities in wider school life.
Show alignment across curriculum, culture, pupil voice and decision-making, rather than introducing additional initiatives.
Evidence strong, sustainability-focused partnerships with farms, such as LEAF Marque growers.
Partnerships should be sustained and purposeful. Quality of engagement matters more than the number of visits.
Organise and deliver CPD for other schools. Host a network event or share your expertise to inspire wider engagement.
Focus on helping other schools develop their practice. This can be collaborative and should be appropriate to your school’s context.
Complete and share action research on the impact of food, farming, or sustainability in school, or show how findings from previously completed action research are being applied. Reflect on your journey from Pledge onwards.
Action research can be practical and reflective rather than academic. Where previous research is being used, show how its findings are informing current practice.
Actively engage with LEAF on social media. Share impact and benefits, and regularly celebrate pupil and community achievements.
Share authentic practice and achievements, focusing on celebration and connection rather than performance.
Review your school’s approach using the LEAF Gold review, showing how food and farming now influence the school’s sustainability strategy.
Bring together the full journey, showing how practice has become coherent, established and influential over time.
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Preparing for your LEAF review The LEAF review is a supportive opportunity to reflect on what has taken place and how your school is meeting the criteria for its current stage. It is not an inspection or judgement, and schools are not expected to create additional paperwork simply for the review. Pledge: This establishes your starting point and can be completed at any time. The link to the pledge review can be found on the LEAF website.
What should I keep track of?
Bronze, Silver & Gold reviews Sent: towards the end of the spring term Time to complete: around 45 minutes Return: email the completed form to LEAF Full instructions will be provided when the review is sent. You can work through the form at your own pace across the summer term, using it to bring together the year’s work and consider how the criteria have been met.
Your review should draw mainly on your professional knowledge of what has happened during the year. You do not need to create a separate evidence portfolio, but brief notes against the criteria can help you keep track of activity, learning and impact. These might include: lessons and activities; CPD and farm experiences; pupil learning, voice or leadership; developments in curriculum, the school environment, partnerships or wider school practice; anything that helps you describe the impact of the work. This can be particularly useful at later stages, when different teachers, classes or areas of the school may be contributing to different aspects of the work.
What happens after the review? At Bronze, Silver and Gold, if the criteria have been met, your school achieves that stage. You can move on when the next stage feels right, or remain at your current stage and complete the same review again the following year.
LEAF Demonstration Schools
Support throughout your journey LEAF provides practical support, resources and opportunities throughout the Demonstration School journey.
The Demonstration Schools webpage The LEAF Demonstration Schools webpage is your main hub for everything connected with the programme. Visit the webpage to find: guidance, lesson plans and supporting resources; teacher training and CPD opportunities; virtual farm visits and booking information; programme updates and other news.
Stay up to date Registered schools receive the Demonstration Schools Bulletin each half term, with programme updates, useful resources, links and upcoming opportunities. If you are not currently receiving the bulletin, email education@leaf.eco to be added to the mailing list.
https://leaf.eco/education/schools
Countryside Classroom provides free, qualityassured teaching resources exploring food, farming and the natural environment, alongside information about places to visit and other opportunities for schools: www.countrysideclassroom.org.uk
Support from LEAF As your school progresses from Pledge towards Gold, there will be opportunities to work with LEAF’s team of Education Specialists. Support becomes more tailored as practice develops, particularly at Silver and Gold, and LEAF will contact schools directly when Education Specialist support is appropriate. For general questions about Demonstration Schools, resources, reviews or your next steps, contact: education@leaf.eco
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LEAF Demonstration Schools education@leaf.eco
www.leaf.eco/education/schools