Students from Motueka High School play the Grow game.
Students from Motueka High School play the Grow game.
Preparations for National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) exams have looked a little different for many students across New Zealand this year, thanks to a new agri-focused board game.
Developed as part of a joint initiative between Rabobank, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University and the Agribusiness in SchoolsProgramme, the new Grow board game was created to support learning by Year 11 students studying NCEA Agribusiness and Agricultural and Horticultural Science.
It covers all the major topics within the relevant curriculums and provides students with a fun way to learn and reinforce the course content.
Following more than two years of development and production, 550 sets of the Grow board game were delivered to secondary schools taking part in the Agribusiness in Schools Programme early in term four.
“It’s been a long time in the making, but it’s great to now have the game being used in schools across New Zealand,” Rabobank NZ chief executive Todd Charteris said.
“We’ve had plenty of feedback coming in on the game over recent weeks and it’s been really heartening to hear it’s proven popular with teachers and students.”
The new game touches on a host of subjects including – but not limited to – biosecurity, soil composition, waterways, key agri terms, biodiversity, biological processes, animal behaviours, weather patterns and agricultural production by region.
It also incorporates elements of Mātauranga Māori.
Rabobank agribusiness manager Andrew Cottam presents the Grow board game to students at Southland Girls High School.
Agricultural and horticultural science teacher Anthea Garmey from Motueka High School – one of the more than 125 secondary schools that received the games – said she’d utilised Grow throughout term four with her Year 11 and 12 students.
“It’s a fantastic game and the students engaged with it straight away,” she said.
“Since the games arrived, I’ve often had students come into class and ask if they can play the game, and then they will quite happily play it for the whole period.
“Everyone really loves it and has learnt lots from playing the game. And the real bonus is that the content is all very relevant for their assessment.”
Gamey said Grow had prompted some excellent discussions and challenging questions and showed students the different aspects of agriculture.
“Grow also gets them thinking a bit more about the business side of agriculture, and I’ve been quite impressed by some of the conversations I’ve heard students having around topics like the pros and cons of holding assets versus cash.”
Given the positive initial feedback from her students, Garmey said she’d be looking to make use of the game as part of her session planning in 2024.
“It’s also the type of tool that would be ideal for a relief teacher to use on occasions when I can’t be there,” she said.
Agricultural science teacher Anita Taylor from Paraparaumu College – another of the high schools to receive sets of Grow – said students in her agricultural science class had also really enjoyed the new game.
“I used the game with my Year 11 students as revision before their agriculture exam and it worked really well,” she said.
Students from Paraparaumu College have enjoyed playing Grow.
“The students found the questions quite challenging, but even the students who don’t often speak up in class seemed engaged and very interested in hearing the answers to the questions.”
Taylor said she’d also been using Grow with some of her Year 10 students to give them a taste of the agricultural science curriculum.
One of the main challenges was the perception that agriculture studies only focused on the practical elements of farming, like driving a tractor, she said.
“For students considering taking agri science, Grow is a really good introduction to the subject as it helps highlight the wide array of complex issues faced by those working in the agri sector.
“Year 10 students need to pick their subjects for the following year in June, and I’ll be using Grow with them in the first couple of terms next year so they can make an informed choice on whether agri science is something they want to get into.”
How to play Grow
The Grow game focuses on the financial, social, and environmental aspects of food production.
Up to six players can participate in the game, with all players initially allocated a piece of land and a sum of money before choosing if they wish to operate a dairy, sheep and beef, horticulture, viticulture, or arable farming operation.
Game play consists of players moving around a board and accumulating money which then allows them to purchase the required assets to operate their farm.
Players must first successfully answer a question to collect an asset, and the first player to collect all the assets required for their farm wins the game.
