A specialist dyslexia school in Lichfield is taking sustainability to new heights by serving venison from their own deer herd as part of its meal menu for students.
Maple Hayes Hall Dyslexia School sits in a 200-acre estate which is home to a managed heard of 42 deer, including two stags and seven young males.
The venison is culled on site under a Food Standards Agency Licence, before being processed nearby.
Dr Daryl Brown, co-principal of the school, said:
“It’s a very sustainable way for us to feed pupils.
“When we heard Jeremy Clarkson call for the introduction of venison into schools and hospitals as a novel idea, we felt that we should offer ourselves as proof that this isn’t a fad, but can help to reduce the environmental damage caused by the estimated two million wild deer roaming the British countryside.”
Dr Daryl Brown
As well as sustainable food practices, the school said pupils were also able to learn first-hand about where their meals originate.
The field that feeds the deer at the front of the school is also the location for the extensive geothermal loops that give heat to the ground source heating system.
Dr Brown said:
“The solar panels and ground source heating probably saves around £4,500 yearly on fuel bills.
“But importantly for us, when we have a property from 1860 that is impossible to insulate to modern standards, we aren’t wasting precious resources to heat it, just utilising heat and electricity freely generated on our own site.”
Dr Daryl Brown
