Students get hands on with agriculture learning

Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre ran a school holiday training programme last week for a group of St Mary's Diocesan School students who are interested in agriculture.

The girls are all members of the School's Young Farmers club.

They completed practical stock handling modules with a focus on health and safety, spending time shifting stock, drafting, weighing, drenching, vaccinating cattle and dagging sheep in a fun and supportive environment.

They will also gain valuable NZQA credits towards their NCEA.

The students loved the hands-on nature of the course and enjoyed working in a group with their school-mates.

Taratahi tutor Rob Gaudin delivered the programme at the Taratahi Stratford Campus (Stratford Demonstration Farm on East Road) and other farms in the Stratford region so that the students had an opportunity to complete a range of different animal handling tasks.

Taratahi programme manager Margaret Goble says of the programme, "Principal Fiona Green at St Mary's contacted us about running a programme for some of her students, so we spoke to the girls about what they might like to do and put together a few options for them.

"I went and saw the girls on Friday, their last day, and the feedback was really positive.

"One student is interested in enrolling in our full-time programme next year and the others want to come back to do another holiday programme with us".