Supporting The Next Generation To Succeed In Agriculture And Horticulture

A series of agriculture and horticulture modules created to help secondary school teachers deliver the curriculum and help support students in achieving their goals has been rolled out. Clash of the Colleges is set to hit Auckland!

Agri Futures | Ahuwhenua ki te Anamata was established by the New Zealand Rural Games Trust to support youth studying Horticulture and Agriculture and to create unique opportunities for partnership and connection within the education and employment sectors.

General Manager Daniel O'Regan said the modules have been developed to support schools and teachers in delivering Ag and Hort. They cover a cross-section of topics from the life cycle of a bee through to putting up a breakfence to the properties of wool, meat cuts, the parts of a flower and artificial insemination.

We have half a dozen in development that we hope to introduce and release shortly, and in May we will workshop another ten modules to develop later this year.

The Secondary School Teachers Advisory Board comprises our chair, Kain Nixon of Feilding High School, National Agribusiness Advisor Melanie Simmons from St Paul's Collegiate School, Liam Smith from St Andrew's College, and Dallas Pahiri from Rathkeale College.

"The modules will aid and support youth, helping them to achieve Ag and Hort NCEA levels, as well as support teachers in delivering the curriculum," said Kain. “We aim to create a library of modules and, eventually, source tools to support the delivery of the curriculum for schools across the country to access."

Kain said teachers can adjust the modules to fit the learning level; however, for the first time, ag and hort teachers will have access to resources that are consistent throughout the country. "We aim to free them up to focus on teaching, learning and engaging within the rural sector to create opportunities for students."

Daniel O'Regan said that once finalised, the modules are sent to Massey's School of Agriculture for review before being made available in the classroom. The modules are free; however, teachers need to register, and we hope to survey both teachers and students in the future to improve them.

Clash of the Colleges | Te Tukinga Kura Tuarua. This fast-paced, amazing race-style competition offers students hands-on experience in various aspects of the rural sector. Students work in teams of four to complete 16 hands-on modules. The modules cover everything from fencing and drenching to wool classing and body condition scoring, setting up an irrigation line and a break fence, ATV safety, gumboot throwing, and more. The event will be emceed by Tangaroa Walker from Farm 4 Life, an agri-edutainment creator with a massive following of over 340,000, and former NZ Young Farmer of the Year Tim Dangen will be on hand to help with expert advice. Clash of the Colleges is led by Ali Weiringa, who works with local young farmer clubs, sponsors and volunteers to deliver our events. This year, we have students attending from across the region including Northland.

Mark your calendars for our upcoming events:

· Auckland / Northland: (Juniors and Seniors) Mt Albert Grammar School Farm, Friday, 3 May

· Southland / Otago: Telford, (Juniors and Seniors) Friday 6th September

· Canterbury / West Coast: (Intermediate and Juniors) New Zealand Agricultural Show, Wednesday, 13 November 2024

· Mid Central / Lower North Island: (Juniors and Seniors) NZ Rural Games Palmerston North Friday 7 March 2025.

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