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Principal Vivienne Goldsmith says farming classes make sense for the rural-based school. Some of the students involved in caring for the sheep include, front from left, Ethan Powley, Sam Prictor, Byron Stewart and George Innes. Back, Paige Derbyshire and Katie Holmes-Libbis. The school ewes can be seen in the newly leased paddock in the background.
Outdoor classrooms are increasingly popular these days, but Tauhoa Primary School has taken the concept a stage further by buying a flock of sheep, leasing a paddock and setting up full-on farming classes at the school.
The outdoor ag project has been running for some time, but it was given a formal seal of approval last month, when the Rodney Local Board granted the school a new five-year community lease for the 3.7 hectare Naumai Domain recreation reserve, with one five-year right of renewal.
School principal Vivienne Goldsmith said it was exciting to take control of the land, which will also be open for use by the local community.
“It’s a multipurpose space. We set up an ag school and some of our kids will go out there to look at the grass and work with the sheep. They’ve already helped to dag them and dock their tails, and they round the sheep up,” she said.
“But we also see a need here for the community to have a place where they can go and walk and workout and exercise off the roads, so we’re putting in a stile for everyone to use.”
The school has a flock of 33 ewes currently in the middle of lambing and the animals are used for fundraising as well as for ag school.
Mrs Goldsmith said the school was a key part of Tauhoa’s weekly impact project day, where students get the chance to choose what they’d like to do in subjects such as art, cooking and ag school.
“Not everyone is academic, not everyone learns the same way. This is really that whole ‘learning in context’ process, so students are doing maths when they work out drench ratios, for example. It means they get to impact their lives and learning in a different way.”
She added that she was hugely grateful to local farmers Scott Innes and Dave Holmes-Libbis who were teaching the students and making the ag school possible.
Most of the reserve land was grazed in the past, with the school having access to a small section for rugby and soccer, but historic grazing licences had lapsed.
Auckland Council’s community lease advisor, Karen Walby, said an old, dilapidated fence surrounding the reserve had been renewed and replaced with stock-proof fencing at a cost of almost $58,000, funded by the Rodney Local Board’s 2020/21 budget, and Tauhoa School would be responsible for any ongoing maintenance and repairs in future.
