Tag / Community Action Project

by Lynne Strong

Meet our 2020 Archibull Prize schools who took local action on fashion and food waste

2020 was an extreme year of challenges for our Archibull Prize participants as schools scrambled to modify the curriculum to online and remote learning during the pandemic. To incorporate the deep-dive of The Archibull Prize to this situation showed tenacity and commitment of a higher level and we applaud each and every school that completed their Archies.

The Archibull Prize operated under new model in 2020, one that encouraged partnerships with other schools and the community and asked schools to choose an agricultural issue close to their hearts. Several of our schools chose to compare natural fibres such as wool to synthetics in the world of fashion and to examine how Australian agriculture contributes to the world’s food security. Let’s meet some of our 2020 Archies.

Susie Sustain-a-bull is the name of the ‘puzzling’ Archie created by Queensland’s Kilcoy State High as they explored world food security.

“Food security is a puzzle, as the world produces enough food for all but there are still individuals and communities who are without sufficient food.”

The puzzle theme is on full display on Susie with jigsaw pieces representing both challenges and solutions to food security. The Year 10 agricultural students were shocked to learn 1 in 5 Australians go to bed hungry and wanted to use their artwork to engage people in discussions about this topic, particularly as it is generally unspoken in the media or amongst people who never go hungry. To this end, one of the prominent puzzle pieces is labelled “You”.

“This represents every person as it is considered everyone’s responsibility to do their bit to help all achieve, obtain and maintain food security; even if just in a small way. This piece hopefully gets people to think about what they can do to help solve the problem.”

Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School in western Sydney partnered with local feeder school Leonay Primary School to produce their Archie named Piece by Piece to Peace. The students from Stages 3, 4, 5 and 6 sought to understand why synthetic materials are the backbone of fast fashion, rather than organic alternatives.

They expressed their findings in finger painting on a split personality cow they turned into a front loading washing machine to highlight the damage microfibres from synthetics create in our oceans.

“One side shows the dirty world that we have created, always using, always consuming, always throwing away. The things we use are often poisonous to us and our earth, and no matter what we do, no matter how many times we manipulate the synthetic product into something new, it remains a synthetic monster that hurts nature. The other side expresses wonder, beauty and the calm wave towards rest and contentment. No synthetics. No darkness! ”

The standout blue wave on Piece by Piece to Peace is inspired by the artwork The Great Wave by Hokusai and was used by the students to illustrate the massive changes needed to create a more sustainable world of clothing and fashion.

Launceston Church Grammar School in Tasmania also looked at fast fashion, comparing a range of popular disposable clothing items to the biodegradable and long-lasting properties of wool. The result was their Archie named Woolba.

Year 9 geography students took a deep dive into the world of wool – visiting local farms, chatting to wool-brokers and engaging with our wool Young Farming Champions. The ugg-boot wearing Woolba has a 3D diorama along her spine showing off the process of wool production and an in-built screen, which displays the school’s digital learning from The Archibull Prize.

“Through our in-class investigation of the fashion and textiles industry, our scientific investigation of safety of fabrics, and our interactive learning with genuine and passionate members of the wool industry, it became overwhelmingly certain that wool is the best material for clothing, and that we need to foster a transition to slower fashion, where people choose fewer items made in fair conditions.”

#ArchieAction2020 #GlobalGoals #SDG2 #SDG12 #ZeroHunger #ZeroWaste

 

by Lynne Strong

Archie celebrities making themselves at home at the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education

As the new Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education evolves, it has found itself with two new residents: the award-winning Calvary Archies.

Meet Le_EGG_o.  Students at Calvary Christian College not only created prize winning artworks they have created lifelong legacy learning tools that can be enjoyed by generations of young people  

Calvary Christian School in Brisbane are enthusiastic participants in The Archibull Prize, often featuring in the annual awards ceremony. In 2017 they won the title of Grand Champion Archibull with Cotney, representing the wool industry. In 2018 their Archie Le-Eggo, representing the egg industry, was awarded Reserve Grand Champion Archibull.

These famous Archie celebrities are now taking up residence in Sydney and will be a showcase of the new learning facility. Kris Beazley is the principal of the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education – Richmond Agricultural College.

“We are currently delivering Ag, STEM, Sustainability, Aboriginal Knowledges and Careers programs for schools K-12, along with teacher professional learning. Our first AgSTEM specialist stream will commence next year with full time students. We believe both Archies will be well utilised on a weekly basis in our learning programs for both students and teachers and highlight the outcomes possible when young minds are allowed to explore.” Kris says

Le-Eggo and Cotney are currently in Western Sydney University’s shearing shed educational facility, a university events space, but will take pride of place once buildings for the Centre of Excellence are completed.

Cotney- the Moorino with Lisa Bullas and students from Calvary Christian School

“We look forward to profiling Calvary Christian College and the teams responsible for these amazing artworks as well as PYiA, and to connect with Calvary teams in the future, either virtually or when they visit Sydney for Archibull events,” Kris says.

Lisa Bullas from Calvary Christian College says the school is proud to see their Archies in their new home:

“We are privileged to share our Archibull’s with CoE at Ag Ed in Richmond (though if any time they become surplus to requirements we’d be happy to have them back!). I look forward to hearing more of their tales inspiring the new education program. Long may Cotney and Le-Eggo keep telling their agricultural stories.” Lisa says

It seems the Calvary Archies will indeed keep telling their stories, and to an increased audience.

“As our programs are delivered across the state we know that thousands of young people over the years will engage with both Cotney and Le-Eggo,” Kris says.

#CollectiveAction #CollectiveImpact #ArchieAction #YouthinAg

 

by Lynne Strong

Building agricultural literacy and supporting our young people to be ready for the jobs of the future

This experience has been profound for our students. It has facilitated critical thinking, in-depth discussions and provided a platform for our students to develop and refine their thoughts and thinking on issues affecting society today. The Hackathon generated ideas and language our students rarely use to express themselves. The clarity and conviction in their arguments was impressive. The entire process has stirred their creative juices and fostered dedication to finish both the Koala and the Archibull to a very high standard. They have spent all their spare time collaborating and working hard to ensure the projects are ready for submission. The sense of pride in their work is wonderful to see. I highly recommend the opportunity to participate in The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas.

Claudia Munday Teacher Penrith Valley LC

At Picture You in Agriculture we are committed to adding value to everyone we serve.

We support agriculture by future proofing the sector through

  • Building agricultural literacy
  • Inspiring pride in the contribution of farmers and rural and regional communities to Australia’s economic wellbeing, our social fabric and the the sector’s commitment to achieving climate positive agriculture
  • Succession planning. Identifying and developing emerging leaders in the sector and leveraging their capacity as role models to attract young people into agriculture

Agricultural literacy revolves around the ability to think critically and make value judgments about the impact of agriculture as an economic and environmental activity and the concurrent societal and political pressures that result from those judgments. An agriculturally literate person should be able to analyse and evaluate “trade-offs” to individuals and to society resulting from agricultural enterprises. The nature of the decisions and value judgments drive the agricultural content. Understanding of agriculture is demonstrated by the ability to enter into conversations about and make decisions in response to choices facing society. Source 


Learn more about the sustainability circle here 

We support the teachers we work with to empower their students to be critical and creative thinkers who are life long learners working together to be engaged and active participants in the communities they live, work and play in

As part of Picture You in Agriculture’s support of schools undertaking The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas in 2020, a series of workshops was rolled out in October for teachers and students.

First cab off the rank was the wonderful Kris Beazley, principal at the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education -Richmond Agricultural College, who held one day hack-a-thons in design thinking and imagineering.

“The aim of the hack-a-thon was to draw together the students’ prior learnings and understandings about the project parameters, their area of research, understanding of effective communication and project planning. Students developed ideas and concepts through a process of imagineering, clustering, consideration and feedback, and then these tested ideas formed a milestone map and resourcing and task allocation plan for their projects,” Kris says.

Four teams participated in the hack-a-thon, three involved with The Archibull Prize and one with Kreative Koalas. Setting the project tone for their Archies were Stage 4 students from Nepean Creative and Performing Arts who are studying sustainable fashion, Stage 4 students from Granville Boys who are studying water management in the Sydney catchment and Stage 4 and 5 students from the Penrith Valley Learning Centre who are studying land use challenges of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. Kreative Koala participants were the Stage 3 students from the Penrith Valley Learning Centre who are supporting koalas in the rural fringes of north-west Sydney.

“Our students embarked on an intense day of imagineering and prototyping that was tailored to our Archibull theme, zero textiles waste. Design thinking principles united with structured negotiations, constructive feedback and testing group ideas, and project parameters were rigorously explored, discussed and revisited. The result was a synthesised group production target and achievable project goals. We thank the Archibull Hackathon team for their passion, innovation and interest in the development of our project and our minds.”

Mrs Rowston, Nepean Creative and Performing Arts

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And what does their Archie look like

 

Students enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to their projects and to problem solve as part of a group. When asked what were three things they learned during the day, their responses included:

  • “collaboration – merging ideas – be willing to change and compromise”

  • “how to communicate effectively – listen/respect and use others ideas – easily collaborate”

  • “communication – teamwork – realistic ideas”

Kris believes the hack-a-thons developed a sense of collective commitment to the Archibull and Kreative Koalas projects.

“It is an intense day but also gives every student in the group a voice and the agency to act.”

Meet Penrith Valley Learning Centre’s Archie

 

A great outcome for agriculture supporting our young people to be ready for the jobs of the future

by Lynne Strong

The Archies and Kreative Koalas make television debut

The House of Wellness program on Channel 7 recently featured some extra special guests – students from St Catherine’s College at Singleton and their  Archies and Kreative Koalas!

The House of Wellness explores “the world of health and wellbeing, addressing your health concerns in an entertaining and informative format. From raising your kids, to staying fit, ageing gracefully, and keeping beautiful inside and out, as well as the A to Z of every vitamin under the sun, The House of Wellness is designed with one thing in mind – to help you ‘Live Well’.”

In his introduction to the November 2 episode, Luke Darcy linked wellness to the environment.

“2020 has made us re-think pretty much everything about the way we live from what we consume, our relationships with each other and the environment and the impact we have on the planet,”

Luke’s astute reflection is a mantra long held by the Archies and Kreative Koalas.

After a brief chat about The Archibald Prize Luke, and co-host Jo Stanley, segued expertly to The Archibull Prize and featured Lynne Strong talking about her vision for climate positive agriculture before segueing again to Lynne’s driving passion – Picture You in Agriculture.

Then it was into the classroom to showcase the Archies and Kreative Koalas in action, including asking the students how these programs have changed their perception of agriculture and the environment.

“I didn’t grow up on a farm but this has definitely made it a lot more fun,” said  Archies participant Phoebe .

“Its pretty exciting” declared Jessica

“For the forehead we are planning to put an earth with a lot of trees and bushes around the outside. So that’s saying that our planet grows a lot of plants and those plants are vital,” said Jacob.

The segment concluded with a plug for careers in agriculture.

“We have some of the best ag science and agronomy courses in the world right here and by 2030 it is estimated there will be around 48,000 new jobs in the rural sector, which is fantastic. It’s a great field to steer our kids towards,” Luke said.

“And it is girls who are leading the charge

They make up more than 56% of students studying agriculture and related courses.” Jo continued.

PYiA is committed to engaging students, young agriculturalists and future consumers in conversations about their vision for the future of food and farming and their role in it. Thanks to The House of Wellness that vision has reached yet another audience.

Watch the Archies and Kreative Koalas on The House of Wellness

Mega shout out to the students and teachers at St Catherine’s and the team at the House of Wellness who all did a superstar job of showing how exciting agriculture can be

 

 

 

by Lynne Strong

Agriculture in the Classroom – Students tackle Fake News

The joy of using agriculture as an educational tool is it can be used to teach everything on the Australian curriculum (including critical thinking skills) and help young people get jobs

Critical thinking skills are one of the top four employability skills 21st century employers want most.

Our research shows that young people want to significantly increase their creative and critical thinking skills This includes determining the difference between what’s real and what is “Fake News”

Our research has been complemented by the fabulous work of our partner  Western Sydney University in their study of News and Young Australians

As this article in The Conversation highlights, we live in an age of fake news and Australian children are not learning enough about media literacy.

The challenge for teachers is how do we better prepare young people to effectively navigate the complex and nuanced landscape of modern news and social media.

We are excited to be part of a team helping teachers do this using fake news in agriculture as an example.

Part of what the students will find out is what is fake news in Australia is not necessarily fake news in other countries. This helps to reinforce the message that there is not a one size fits all solution to the challenges our farmers face to grow food and natural fibres on the hottest, driest inhabited continent

What does a Fake News lesson plan look like?

A quick summary of it might look something like this  

  • Teachers ask the question, “What is Fake News?’
  • Students discuss their ideas.
  • Class teachers can facilitate the discussion by making a brainstorm of their answers.
  • Younger students, play the ‘Get Bad News’ game to help them understand the process of creating fake news and the effect it has globally;
  • Older students play the ‘BBC iReporter’ game for older classes.
  • As a class, google the following:
    • Hormones in milk in Australia
    • Hormones in chicken

Teachers might then invite the students to break into groups for a wider discussion and share their learnings with the community via their Archibull Prize ( secondary schools) or Kreative Koalas ( primary schools) digital learning journal

The aim of each task is for the students to create and present a short presentation of their findings at the end of the lesson

Tasks could look like this

  • Group 1 – Look at fake news as a concept. What is it? How does it happen? Can they create a checklist to help other students to spot fake news?
  • Group 2 – Investigate what the media gains by spreading fake news. Present an explanation of their findings.
  • Group 3 – What’s a credible resource? What’s credible science? Students investigate these 2 headings and provide short explanations of both.

(Group 2 and 3 could also create visuals (such as a poster or comic strip) to accompany their work.

  • Group 4 – Invite the students to discuss the ethics around deceptive advertising and its consequences. Students can use the Consequence Wheel for this exercise

Some resources the teachers might use:

News and Young Australians

We live in an age of ‘fake news’. But Australian children are not learning enough about media literacy

Beyond fact-checking: 5 things schools should do to foster news literacy

The media exaggerates negative news. This distortion has consequences

We look forward to sharing the students agricultural flavoured journey to detect biases and agendas in media and feel empowered to distinguish fact from fiction, be savvy consumers, and learn to advocate for public good?

And this very important feedback from a teacher. Another question agriculture can ask itself.

Is our succession plan and capacity to spark interest in careers in agriculture reaching young people where they are at

by Lynne Strong

NEWS FROM THE MOOS AND KREATIVE KOALA KIDS

The 2020 COVID  ready editions of The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas – Design a Bright Future are off and running in 34 schools from Tasmania to Queensland, and here is a wrap of their first few weeks in action.

As you can see the Moos are definitely in the News

In the media

Caragabal has received rain! This momentous occasion for students and families of Caragabal Public School in western NSW made ABC headlines. Kids spoke about the breaking of the drought and how sustainable practices are shaping their farming future.

Also talking to the ABC about Kreative Koalas was teacher Martha Atkins from Medowie Christian School in the Port Stephens region. The students also shared their journey to #ZeroHunger with the Port Stephens Examiner

Medowie took out the title of Grand Champion Community Project for Change in 2019, so this is definitely a school to watch out for.

The Port Stephen Koala Hospital will be opening on September 25, and radio station NEWFM radio, previewed the event, which guest stars the Grand Champion Koala artwork from Raymond Terrace Public School.

On our blog

Medowie also featured on our PYiA blog (we love to celebrate our schools and feature them regularly) discussing their goals for 2020 with zero hunger and cookbooks!

Meanwhile, James Erskine Public School reflected on what they had learnt from Kreative Koalas in 2019 and how it has affected their school twelve months down the track.

St Catherine’s Catholic College at Singleton told us how COVUD has had some positive changes, allowing teacher Joanna Towers extra time to study and to investigate the world of regenerative agriculture.

Innisfail State College, who is taking part in both the Archies and Kreative Koalas, is improving critical thinking through collaboration, connection and communication.

Carlingford West Public School met a special group of young women from our Young Farming Champions program who totally busted their stereotype of what a farmer looks like.

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Webinars and resources

Thank you to John Holloway from the Murray Darling Basin Authority Education Team for his very well received Deep Dive into Water webinars and the extremely engaged students who joined him. See the story here. John will be available to run more webinars for Stage 3, Stage 4 and Stage 5 after the holidays.

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Thanks also to our wonderful collaborator Kris Beazley from Richmond Agricultural College – Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education who is running eight one-day Hack-a-thons, focussing on design thinking train the trainer workshops, for teachers participating in our programs.

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Following on from their Caragabal Public School story the ABC has created a teacher resource on the breaking of the drought.

Expressions of interest are now open for 2021

If you are a secondary school you can submit an EOI for The Archibull Prize HERE 

If you are a primary school you can submit an EOI for Kreative Koalas HERE 

Visit our website to find out more

Shout out to our supporting partners who are empowering young people to be critical and creative thinkers and changemakers ready for the jobs of the future.

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by Lynne Strong

Delivering on what young people want – A webinar with the Murray Darling Basin Authority helps students understand Australia’s water

Did you know the Murray-Darling Basin region produces food for 40 million people (almost double Australia’s total population)?

Or that it is home to 2.6 million people, over 40 Aboriginal nations and 16 internationally recognised wetlands?

Did you know this mighty river-system actually has naturally low volumes of water – so low that the amount of water flowing out of the mouth of the Murray Darling in one year is the same as the Amazon’s flow in one day!

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PYiA connects learning to real world issues and our surveys show our young people are particularly interested in learning about how we ensure everyone has access to clean water and the role of our river catchments in delivering this .

One of our aims is to work with supporting partners to introduce these young people to experts and so, in order to deliver on what our young people want, PYiA recently facilitated a series of webinars for schools participating in Kreative Koalas and The Archibull Prize. The webinars were hosted by John Holloway from the education team at the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

John Holloway showing the students how much fresh water there is on earth if the earth was one metre across 

“We love virtual presentations and often it’s the only way to do them when the Murray-Darling Basin is over a million square kilometres. I love the look of understanding when kids can connect to new knowledge and see something with new eyes. We use water everyday but we rarely stop to think how special it is,” John says.

John tailored his presentations to both primary and secondary students.

“For Years 5 and 6 our key message is knowledge and awareness of the Basin as a special national asset. We all know, and can picture, the Great Barrier Reef, for instance, or Uluru—but despite its vital significance many Australians are oblivious to the Murray-Darling Basin. It’s such a massive and diverse system – really a living thing – and we struggle to get our heads around it. With older students we like to get the message across that water management, like many of our big 21st century challenges, is very complex and often contested. There are no simple answers – but this is something that all Australians are in together,” he says.

Kreative Koala participants Caragabal Public School and St Joseph’s Primary School at Grenfell fall within the catchment for the Murray-Darling Basin and water is always front of mind for these students. Caragabal recently celebrated the coming of the rain in an ABC story, and both schools found particular relevance in the seminar.

Danielle Schneider is a teacher at St Joseph’s and is leading her students through sustainability with a specific focus on water management.

“The highpoints from the webinar included speaking directly with John Holloway who was exceptionally knowledgeable and provided the students with information on the importance of water and sustainable water use and management within the Murray-Darling Basin.

The key messages the students took home were that there is a finite amount of water available on Earth and, therefore, it is essential to look after the water we have, sustain this, and recycle it where possible. Another key message was that the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the Australian States work to control Murray-Darling Basin water and we must all use it wisely and appreciate it. Overall, the webinar educated students about the Murray-Darling Basin. This linked well to our class studies based on sustainability and water use. It provided students with access to valuable input not always easily accessible to us in the past,” she says.

The MBDA seminars were a wonderful way to connect to students participating in The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas, and we look forward to facilitating further webinars in the future, guided and informed by what our young people want.

#SDG14 #SDG15 #KreativeKoalaKids

 

by Lynne Strong

Communicating, connecting and collaborating at Innisfail State High School to improve critical thinking

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Communication, connection and collaboration are being enhanced at Innisfail State College, in northern Queensland, through participation in the 2020 Archibull Prize; and along the way the critical thinking skills of the students are improving.

Janet Lane is an agriculture teacher at Innisfail State College and as the school embarks on its Archibull journey Janet is already deriving great joy from their life-size fibreglass cow.

“She is beautiful. She is currently in the school office where she is contributing to the well-being of the office staff and next week she goes on tour, starting at the Elders office, because they have been such wonderful supporters of our agricultural program, and during the holidays she will be at the council chambers. I am really excited about connecting to the community and generating community involvement in the project.” Janet says

Year 9 classes from agriculture and art are focusing on Global Goals 14 and 15 and will collaborate on the Archibull. They have chosen as their Agricultural Area of Investigation “Clean, Healthy, Sustainable Catchments for All”  and will do a deep dive into the effect of pollutants entering waterways and the Great Barrier Reef. 

“Our biggest industries are sugar-cane and bananas, which are both pretty heavy fertiliser use industries; and we are framed by two rivers. We did a two lesson incursion exercise to model the catchments and to show it is not only farmers who are contributing to pollutants. We saw there was organic nitrogen from the rainforest and that hobby farms, fishers and water-skiers all contributed. It was a powerful exercise to give them a big-picture visual and the students were surprised at how much pollutant goes into catchment and how big the catchment actually is.” Janet says

The students have run with this big-picture idea and taken a critical look at their own school yard – seeing how rubbish from the playground can flow to the agricultural plot, potentially affecting their cows, and from there into waterways and onto the reef.

“We’ve been looking at the systematic and behavioural changes we can make. We approached the council who have provided extra wheelie bins for the school and we have workshopped ideas and solutions using inquiry learning.” Janet says

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Students participated in a  full day incursion that bought of art and agriculture students together to looking at behaviour change and people’s atttitude to the environment. 

The council is also supporting the school by providing links to local industry to showcase the range of local careers available and guest speakers, including an agronomist from Elders, have been giving the students practical insights into these careers.

“I’m really enjoying the whole process and the palette of possibilities The Archibull presents. The resources provided are phenomenal and I am looking forward to giving each section of  Sustainability Circle pie pieces and giving a section to each group to study. The Archibull is also building teacher capability; teachers who wouldn’t normally work together are meeting each week and sharing ideas. And I’ve noticed a big difference in the students working in groups – they are starting to be more responsible, allocating tasks to each other and getting their group collaboration together. Most importantly I am seeing these kids develop their critical thinking skills.” Janet says

At Innisfail State College the aim of The Archibull Prize – students taking action on real world problems and working with real world people on issues that matter to them – is being realised and we look forward to following their Archie journey as the year progresses.

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The students are sharing with their Archie journey with parents and friends through their school newsletter

#ArchieAction #SDGs #BtheChange #ChangeMakers #TheoryofChange #SocialNorms #YouthinAction #YouthinAg

Footnote

Picture You in Agriculture’s (PYiA) overarching aim is to support young people to thrive in business and life. We do this by identifying and developing emerging leaders, teaching them how to multiply their impact and providing them with a smorgasbord of opportunities to apply what they learn.

This is achieved through our cornerstone program Young Farming Champions (YFC) and by engaging with the next generation in primary and secondary schools.

The YFC program identifies and nurtures young agricultural professionals and equips them with the skills to:

  • Connect and collaborate with the next generation of consumers and
  • Advocate for, and drive change in, the Australian agricultural sector.

The YFC partner with PYiA  to deliver our primary and secondary school programs that empower young people to design and implement sustainability action projects through the lens of agriculture.

The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas -Design a Bright Future Challenge are connecting learning to:

  • Real world issues
  • Real world people
  • What young people value

Our programs:

In the process we are giving young Australians agency and a voice

 

 

 

by Lynne Strong

Keep your “Eyes” on St Catherine’s Catholic School

Students at St Catherines at Singleton celebrate the arrival of their Archie 

COVID-19 has dominated the way we work in 2020, creating challenges and uncertainty; but with it has also come opportunities for new entrants to our in-school programs The Archibull Prize (TAP) and Kreative Koalas (KK).

TAP and KK are operating under a new model this year, which encourages communities of practice across primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, business and government. One school taking on the challenge for the first time is St Catherine’s Catholic College at Singleton, under the guidance of agriculture teacher Joanna Towers.

“One good thing about this crisis [coronavirus lockdown] is I have had time to study at home and listen to a range of webinars in my own time. It has opened up a whole new world for me – soil health, regenerative agriculture, carbon in soils. At the moment I am into dung beetles and it’s become my goal to get them back to the school farm.” Joanna says

The 35 hectare school farm has previously had all but 4 hectares leased to a third party but this year the lease will revert in entirety to the school.

“How we will manage that land has given me the impetus to put new learnings into place,” Joanna says.

In a normal year the students of St Catherine’s would have pigs and cattle ready for the Sydney Royal Easter Show and its cancellation brought great disappointment to the school.

“I wanted something different and something the students could look forward to.  I had always been aware of The Archibull Prize and always looked at the final products with amazement, but I thought the project was too big. Now we have an art teacher on board to provide creative genius and a new direction for the school farm, and are participating in both The Archies and Kreative Koalas!” Joanna says

St Catherine’s tasted success with PYiA when they joined the Careers Competition in 2019 where one of their students, Hallee Tanzer, won the Years 7 to 10 section. Joanna found this competition, and the resume writing competition that is part of The Archibull Prize , to be a great asset for her students.

“Glencore [mining company] is a major employer in Singleton and recently they advertised 40 positions and got 1800 applicants. The Cultivate your Dream Career Competition will give  the students skills in resume writing to make that important first impression. For example, it’s all very well to say to an employer you are a team player but it’s the concrete evidence of those skills that is important. Students may not realise the skills they learn in school are transferable to the workplace and this competition helped them make that connection.” Joanna says

St Catherine’s will be joined on their 2020 Archibull Prize and their  Kreative Koalas journey by Young Farming Champion Tim Eyes, himself a promoter of sustainable and ethical agriculture, and we look forward to watching their vision for a new school farm evolve.

 

by Lynne Strong

Using agriculture to build the confidence of young people to be ready for the future of work

Emma - Life Changing

At Picture You in Agriculture we are a customer focused and people orientated organisation. For our in-school programs our customers are young people and we invite them to tells us how our programs can best support them to thrive in business and life.

They are very generous sharing their thoughts and dreams with us. We collect, track, and analyse the data to understand patterns and trends and make forecasts about what young people are thinking, feeling, talking about and want to act on. We measure to detect what is broken and refine interventions. We experiment to learn what works.

The clarion call in the past few years has been the request to help young people be confident they will be ready for the future of work . As you can see from previous surveys of the students we work with they are telling us they need a lot of support

Employability skills - extremely confident

Had a fantastic conversation with a teacher today. She tells me their school (which is participating in both The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas) is taking the opportunity to leverage our in school programs to increase their students employability skills and open their eyes to the depth and breadth of careers in agriculture. Yesterday the students had a presentation from a local agronomist, who shared his career journey and what his day in the workplace looked like .

The teacher was so proud of her students. She said the high level questions to the presenter came thick and fast.

One in a series that the agronomist handled beautifully was:

Student: How many clients do you have?
Agronomist: 85
Student: Isn’t that a conflict of interest?
Agronomist: Took a deep dive into a conversation about confidentiality and ethics

We are looking forward to doubling these young people’s confidence in their employability skills