Outside of the classroom walls, agricultural schools across Tasmania are teaching their students to be confident and reliable members of a team.
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Farms are an important part of a handful schools in the state, with many of them acting as commercial entities in their own right.
Yolla District High School, Sheffield School, Cressy District High School and Exeter High School are just a few of the institutions that offer agricultural experiences to their students.
If the students are interested in the agricultural industry, this is certainly a good way for them to see and meet contacts and create a possible pathway.
- Sheffield School Cattle Handling Team coordinator Jamie Skirving
This can be anything from cattle handling to planting vegetables.
For many students, the thought of leaving school and embarking on a job hunt can be a scary one.
Today, young people are finishing school and often finding it challenging to find fulltime work in their field.
But many farming industries are in need of graduates, especially as farms move into a more digitised space.
While traditional farming knowledge is still important, and often the backbone of many enterprises, new skill sets are needed to keep up with modern trends.
Taking a look at what schools are already doing across the state shows that many students are already being offered a taste of the sector.
This can give them experience in others industries, as well as showing that the farming sector is very different to what many people may envisage.
If you walk around agricultural shows, anywhere from Longford to Brighton, the grounds are filled with student taking part in the cattle and sheep handling events.
For school leavers, TasTAFE offers a range of courses for students to dig a bit deeper into the agriculture sector, ranging from certificates in agriculture to certificates in animal studies.
Two new subjects for year 11 and 12 students and an agribusiness associate degree are also set to start in 2017.
Sheffield School agriculture teacher Simon Barber said the school’s program was not just about learning hands-on agricultural skills, but building students’ confidence.
“Most of the kids that do stick with it, especially the cattle handing ones, they seem to be employed straight out of school,” he said.
“Some of them might not go on to work in agriculture, but they’ll have skills for the future.
“They can go onto the broader agricultural science degrees, and we’ve had a lot of stock agents that have been through the school in the past.”
While some students at the school come from farming families, others have not experienced the ins and outs of the sector.
“Grade 6 and 7 students are learning about the responsibilities of having the animals and caring for them,’ Mr Barber said.
“When you get into grade 8, you start to look at the whole farm management and they run their own little enterprise.”
Like many schools with a farm attached, Sheffield School has a junior cattle handling program that offers another set of skills to students.
The program’s coordinator Jamie Skirving said most of the students involved in the program loved being able to work with the animals.
“We have to make sure that we’re organised with our students so they have an animal and they are entered into the shows and the events,” Mr Skirving said.
“The kids are dealing with a pretty big animal so they have to overcome that to begin with and they have to understand how important it is to be safe.
“They have to learn about the agricultural industry, learn about the junior judging, and then there’s the public speaking side of things which is really good for their confidence and self-esteem.”
He said these programs not only built the confidence of students, but helped to establish important contacts.
“If the students are interested in the agricultural industry, this is certainly a good way for them to see and meet contacts and create a possible pathway,” Mr Skirving said.
At Cressy District High School, a big part of its agricultural program is sheep handling, but students are also able to grow vegetables in the school garden and look after chickens.
The school’s farm management committee chairman Terry Connell said there was often a misconception about what working in the agriculture sector actually looked like.
“I believe that a lot of people in agriculture are very multi-skilled and there’s been a lack of reporting on that for many years,” Mr Connell said.
“I think the students’ connection with the shows teaches these young people how to present themselves.
“People tend to think that farming is driving a tractor but it’s such a broad sector.”
Principal Craig Brown said he wanted to ensure students got a broad taster of the industry, especially for students who were hoping to work in the field.
“The older students go out to the farm two times a week and on top of that, they go out to shows,” he said.
“You’ve got to be responsible, you’ve got to be reliable, you’ve got to be on time for things, and you’ve got to be part of a team.
“Some students who might not shine in some areas do well in agriculture and we want to tap into that.”
Look out for the next edition of Digging Deep on November 15.