After a decade of connecting students and teachers to agriculture the acclaimed Archibull Prize will undergo a metamorphosis in 2020 as it evolves to help young people and agriculture meet the complex challenges of the 21^st century.

In collaboration with Kris Beazley – Principal, Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education, Richmond Agricultural College, and Lorraine Chaffer from Geography Teachers Association of NSW/ACT the new vision will see the development of deep and lasting communities of practice between primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, business and government.

The Archibull Prize:

Using creativity to inspire and foster connections and conversations                             between farmers and the community

The new model sees secondary schools tasked with identifying a local agricultural area of investigation and exploring its challenges and opportunities. The students will be assigned a Young Farming Champion and encouraged to identify tertiary, business and government organisations with whom they can partner in their quest to take ownership of the challenge and share their findings and recommendations.

Secondary schools will also be encouraged to build a partnership with their feeder primary schools for the Kreative Koalas – Design a Bright Future Challenge with the opportunity for the secondary school to offer student mentoring, facilitation and specialist support.

Kreative Koalas:

Using creativity to connect and inspire young people and the community to work together to act on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on a local level

Based on the concept of ‘communities of practice’ these partnered learning opportunities between primary, secondary and tertiary institutions will enhance the transition of students through their education journey and provide post-school opportunities through other partnerships with industry and government.

The new model is tailored to support schools to encourage teacher and student collaboration using cross curricula learning.  In addition, it will incorporate the development of intergenerational knowledge and skills transfer while continuing to be an exemplary example of student-driven project-based learning.

Extra support will be available for students in rural and regional NSW through our new partnership with the STEM Industry School program

The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas provide young people with future focused learning linked to real world issues at both a society and agricultural industry level and fosters the top four skills 21^st century employers want: collaborative team players, creative thinking, critical analysis and problem solving and influential communication.

Picture You in Agriculture will be piloting the new model in 2020 in schools in NSW and QLD working with 12 secondary schools who will partner with a total of 20 primary schools.

What teachers are saying about the program

Learn more about The Archibull Prize here

Learn more about Kreative Koalas here 

For further information email the program manager Lynne Strong