NZ claimed her heart: UK-born woman goes from student to staff at AGC Training

Georgia Simons spent two years as a student and has returned to join the staff at AGC Training in Whanganui, the place that claimed her heart after moving from England aged 11.

Rural life In New Zealand has claimed the heart of English city girl Georgia Simons.

Simons, who turns 25 in January, arrived in Whanganui with her family when she was 11 and was immediately enraptured by the fresh greenness of the surrounding hills and farmland – New Zealand was her new home forever.

After schooling at Whanganui Intermediate, Whanganui Girls' College and Whanganui High School, Simons' love of horses led her to study and graduate from the Level 3 Animal Care course at the then Ag Challenge, focusing on the equine module.

She has since followed that up with the Level 5 Rural Animal Tech course,

Simons divided her time between study and working on several dairy farms helping out in milking sheds.

Her passion for rural life and obvious talents in the classroom prompted staff at the now rebranded AGC Training to head-hunt the young woman.

Simons has ascended from student to staff member, beginning on the administration side of the operation with a view to heading to the classroom as a tutor in the future.

"I was asked to come back and work at AGC Training after being made redundant from another job because of Covid-19 and I just love it here. I spent two years here as a student, now I'm staff – it's like one big, happy family," Simons said.

"I grew up in a city in England, although my grandfather has a sheep farm in Wales where I spent a few months helping out after he had an operation. We moved to New Zealand, settling in Whanganui when I was 11 and fell in love with the country.

"It's my home now and I will never go back to England to live. I'm working in the admin side of AGC at the moment, but I plan to work on my adult tutor qualifications and hopefully get out in the field."

Meanwhile, AGC Training has reintroduced its Milk Harvesting Technology L3 programme.

The 22-week full-time course can also be delivered online over 20 weeks. Graduates of this qualification are likely to be employed as full-time milk harvesters or perform this work competently as a part of a wider farm assistant role in the dairy sector.