But, where does the baby cow come from?
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This question might be out of place in most classrooms, but then again Hagley Farm Primary School is not your typical school.
Along with students and staff, Hagley’s roll-call consists of 300 beef cattle and five dairy, two donkeys, four alpacas, almost 300 chickens, two goats, three pigs, 10 ducks, 80 lambs and 10 ewes.
For more than 160 years the Meander Valley establishment has been offering education with a rural twist.
Since its humble beginnings as a small, one-teacher, one classroom school.
Today it set on more than 63 hectares with 363 students – and that’s not including the animals.
From the free-range chickens that roam across the playground, to the goats heard bleating from the classrooms.
There are many elements that make Hagley unlike any other school in the state.
On top of the traditional primary school elements, the school’s visitor centre offers an up close and personal experience to farm life for young minds across the state.
With more than 5000 students now visiting and staying at the school every year, principal Jeanagh Viney said it was an incredibly exciting time for Hagley.
“It is safe to say there is never a dull moment here,” she said.
“We are very much focused on preserving the school’s incredible history, but also taking it into the future and evolving with modern technology.
“There is absolutely nothing else like this and to use a farming expression – I’m in clover.
“I just have to pinch myself to be able to say I am the school’s principal today.”
In 1855, the school was first established at Hagley’s St Mary’s Anglican Church, where it stayed for a decade.
Unfortunately the location meant that every time a wedding was booked at the church, the students had to miss a day of school.
Eventually plans were submitted to relocate the school and two acres of land was donated to establish a two-roomed brick building that still stands today.
By 1939 more land was purchased by the education department for the purpose of establishing a school farm.
This also included the construction of a number of cottages to allow people to board on site and eventually the school grew to include a gym, a hall and a swimming pool.
The Environment Centre was introduced in 1976 and the cottages that had earlier housed boarders became camp style residences for visiting school children from all around the state.
Today, school groups from across Tasmania visit Hagley to learn about life on the farm.
It is a visitor experience that has been enriching the education of Tasmanian students for more than 40 years.
Farm science teacher Mike Tyson said there was something “incredibly special” about seeing children react to animals.
“For us, many of the children come from farming families,” he said.
“But for the ones who visit it might be the first and only time they will ever set foot on a working farm.
“It is a really confidence boost for them, when they get up close and personal with all sorts of different animals.
“There is nothing else like seeing children react and engage with animals.
“It and it certainly makes my job very rewarding.”
The Examiner recently joined Mr Tyson on a tour of the farm with the school’s prep classes.
Starting on the appropriately names ‘Dairy Lane’, the young students were introduced to Daisey the cow and her new calf.
Sitting in a dairy demonstration shed, Mr Tyson with assistance of school farmer Roger Tyshing, demonstrated how to milk a cow.
The students then had the opportunity to feed some young ducks, pat a goat and learn a bit about the process of turning milk into butter with a 19th century hand operated machine.
With a museum complete with historic artifacts dating back to the school’s inception, Mr Tyson said the school’s past was just as important as its present.
“I think when the kids see all the old equipment, they get a new appreciation of farming and the work that goes into it,” he said.
“It is also fun for them to pretend what it would have been like in the 19th century.
“All of the items have been donated to the school over the years, so it really is an incredible collection.”
On March 23, Hagley Farm School and Visitor Centre will unveil the latest additions to their agricultural experience.
The informal event will feature a number of ‘ag-tivities’, including the official opening of the school’s new shearing demonstration shed.
Ms Viney said the open day was for all members of the Hagley Farm School family and it supporters.
“It will be an opportunity for people to engage with everything that is going on here at the moment,” she said.
“The shearing shed is just the latest development and it will add a whole new dimension to the farm school experience.
“We really want people the experiences that young students have at Hagley, to stay with them for life.
“We don’t want it to be a one off.
“So a big focus is on how we can engage our visitors and then how they can take those lessons back to their own schools – even if they don’t have a farm.”