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July 05
Summer holidays and the end of another school year means the end of the two year land based studies pilot project at Breadalbane Academy. As previously reported, students have been coming to West Park every Wednesday for the last 2 years and have gained experience in tractor driving, livestock care and basic crop husbandry.
Breadalbane Academy have been offering their gamekeeping module for a number of years and over the last 2 years, with the help of Lantra, the Sector Skills Training Council for Land Based Businesses and funding from the European Union, it has been able to offer pupils experience of agriculture, equine studies, environmental conservation and horticulture.
One of the aims of the pilot project has been to develop the course as a blue print, which can be used by other schools and employers throughout Scotland. Guidelines for schools and employers have been written up by Lantra and over the 2004-2005 school year, a DVD has been produced which is being made available to all schools in Scotland.
An official launch of the DVD was held at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry on Wednesday 22 July. This was a very well organised event and all credit should go to the school for putting together a very professional presentation.
During the last 2 years, we have hosted at West Park, many visits from other schools and education officials. As a result, 9 schools including Crieff and Blairgowrie are ready to start their land based studies curriculum after the summer holidays. Many others have expressed an interest and the DVD is doing the rounds. No two schools will have the same curriculum; each will have to tailor their courses to suit whichever businesses and employers are willing to work with them. Some of the schools are making links with the agriculture colleges to offer short residential courses covering health and safety training, manual handling etc. The agric colleges are keen to make links with the schools as they see this as a successful way of attracting potential students to their courses.
As other schools have taken up the challenge of starting their own land based studies courses, a few problems have arisen. Transport is one in particular that can prove difficult to organise. Most schools only have one minibus, so parents are being called on to act as taxi drivers. Insurance is another problem, some employer are experiencing problems with under 18’s in the workplace. A change of insurance company to a more understanding provider, who can see the benefits of the course and that all necessary safety requirements and risk assessments have been done, usually solves the problem.
At West Park we are committed to year 3 of the Land Based Studies Course, with 8 students signed up to begin after the holidays. The course prize for year 2 went to Gregor Forrest of Aberfeldy, who completed the 2 year course. Over that time, Gregor developed a range of skills and has recently passed his tractor driving test. He was also able to mentor less experienced students on the course. As with many of the students who’ve been on the course, he has applied to study at Oatridge Agricultural College. I wish Gregor and all the other students good luck with their future studies and hope that they go on to get jobs in the land based sector.
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