General News
25 May, 2022
Schools welcome agricultural classmates
STUDENTS from across South West Victoria will welcome some new furry friends to the school grounds this year.
STUDENTS from across South West Victoria will welcome some new furry friends to the school grounds this year.
Through the Cows Create Careers project, students will learn about dairy industry careers in a very hands-on way.
For three weeks they will rear and care for two three-week-old calves.
A local dairy farmer will teach the students how to care for the calves and demonstrate skills such as animal husbandry, feeding and weighing.
An industry advocate will also visit the students to speak about their careers in the dairy industry.
Each school is provided with a dairy industry curriculum for Years 7-11, at no cost, and students form teams to complete industry-based assessments.
Noorat Primary School received a boost this week when local dairy farmers Con and Michelle Glennen donated two Jersey calves for the students to care for over the coming term.
Mr Glennen said he was happy to support the students in advancing their understanding of the region’s largest industry.
“Helping the kids learn more about agriculture is great,” he said.
“Agriculture is big business out here so a program which exposes kids to the business is a positive.”
Mrs Glennen said the students would learn not only life lessons which could one day translate in to a farming career, but would also develop skills such as responsibility and teamwork.
“Teaching the kids that kind of responsibility, with the animal in their hands, is an important lesson,” she said.
“The big picture is that little animal has to turn in to a big animal, so they have to take care of it every single day.”
Local schools to participate in the project during 2022 include Cobden Technical School, Camperdown College and Terang College.
Cows Create Careers was originally established in 2004 with dairy farmers in the Strzelecki Lions Club in Victoria and nine Gippsland schools.
Noorat Primary School principal Ilona Watkins said practical, hands-on-learning such as the Cows Create Careers program was a highlight for the students.
“The whole school will be able to work together to take care of the calves from feeding them, measuring them and making sure they have a clean place to sleep,” she said.
“It’ll be the Year 4-6 class who actively work together and have a project to do over the next few weeks which links with the Cows Create Careers project.
“It expands their knowledge around farming, the dairy industry and all the different pathways they can take in terms of the dairy industry, which is a massive part of our community.
“The students are very excited after we missed out on the program last year due to COVID-19 lockdowns, so it’s been long-anticipated to have the calves back again.”
The project has since been supported by industry, regional development programs, dairy farmers and sponsors, and has grown to over 230 schools across Australia with more than 11,500 students completing the project.
Upon completion of the project, students and teachers will be recognised at an interactive presentation day, where there will be industry-based games and prizes awarded to the winning teams and schools.
The presentation days for the term two participating schools will be held in late June.
