School outside the classroom

Caleb Watson, left, and Musa Maphosa appreciate the opportunity Land Based Studies has given them.

Damien Watson manages a 1600-cow Landcorp dairy farm just north of Taupo and understands how important it is for employees to have the right skills and qualifications. So much so, that when Kate Callaghan, who runs the agricultural programme at Taupo's Tauhara College, approached him last year to help train secondary students in Land Based Studies (LBS), he saw the relevance and quickly agreed.

Two students were sent his way for one-day-a-week on-site training. The Primary Industry Training Organisation (ITO) assists with the LBS curriculum.

Musa Maphosa was one of these students. Despite arriving from overseas almost halfway through the year, he responded so well to the practical training that he completed his NCEA Level 2 and went on to Taratahi Agricultural College in Manawatu for a year, the top dairy student at the end of last year.

Musa is now back fulltime with Damien as a farm assistant.

This Landcorp farm is not the only willing recipient of Kate's enthusiastic students. Students have been placed far and wide -- many go on to farms, some into forestry and one to a Mitre 10 store to learn plant husbandry.

Through these work placements students get hands-on training and learn real life, relevant skills that will help them more easily secure work once they have finished school. They are assessed on their "on-site" learning and can earn credits towards NCEA, getting qualifications while doing something they enjoy.

"This programme has been great for our students, who have enjoyed the mix of practical and theory and the real connection to a vocational pathway that is very relevant to both them and New Zealand," says Peter Gould, principal of Tauhara College.

Students also gain more confidence, independence and can more easily go on to further study.

"My time on Damien's farm and the guidance from school meant that when I got to Taratahi I knew so much more than the other students," says Musa. "I worked more quickly. I already knew how to build break-fences, how to milk cows properly and knew more about stock-feed technology and this put me a step ahead in class at Taratahi."

Kate says she aims to replicate what happens in the workforce through the programme.

"We are tough on students, no softer than in real life."

Students applying for the course must fill in a form, get a reference just like a job application and, in Year 11, are interviewed. This includes a drug test.

"We do the interview with parents because we like to know where that particular student's strengths and weaknesses lie. What we aim to do with every student is not only get them through NCEA Level 2, and help them start gathering credits for NCEA Level 3. It is about finding ways for each student to get the right skills and qualifications for them," says Kate. "We focus on teaching students about the real world and helping them with the qualifications they need.

"Once the students are in their placements, we keep contact with them but we don't crowd them; the idea is that they are doing a proper job."

"The students do what a normal farm worker would do," says Damien. "They milk cows, pull weeds and repair any fence. I tick off what they have done and supervise them."

Damien has helped with a further two LBS placements, one of them his son, Caleb. "My son is very motivated to be a farmer but has struggled with traditional school subjects. I have been so impressed with how the school has handled him. They understand what he needs and, while he must get a certain level of literacy and numeracy, the school helped him by offering him subjects which made sense to him."

Caleb has just completed Year 13 at Tauhara with a Level 2 Vocational Pathway in Primary Industries. He is earning NCEA Level 3 credits through further work on the farm: completed his "motorbike on hilly terrain" course, "isolating milk not fit for collection" and "managing livestock". Next year he wants to get a job and further qualifications.

"I didn't think I would leave school having done as well as I have," says Caleb. "I love being outside, working with animals and I want to be good at that."

Arthur Graves, the Ministry of Education's Group Manager for Youth Guarantee, which has developed curriculum frameworks such as Vocational Pathways for courses like LBS says: "Programmes like this help students stay in school so that they secure the qualifications they need for the future. When students study subjects in areas which are relevant and interesting to them, they are much more likely remain engaged with their learning.

Having NCEA Level 2 also means students are well-prepared to undertake further training, study or work, as they have a solid foundation to build on."