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LAUNCESTON TOYOTA

Hagley Farm School Agricultural Education

Centre of Excellence

Hello Everyone

With term 1 well and truly in the rear vision mirror it is time we touched base with

some of the many positive initiatives that continue to cultivate improved

agricultural education/food and fibre production opportunities for students

throughout our state.

A snapshot of key initiatives so far in 2017 includes:

The Agfest 2017 UTas Kids Ag Awareness Program for primary students

The new TASC Year 11-12 Ag courses up and running in schools

UTas/TAEN Careers in Agriculture Pathways project

A growing number of extension schools increasing the offerings of Ag

related opportunities in Year 11-12 (VET and TASC courses)

The DoE Senior Project Officer for Food and Fibre Production in place and

leading curriculum development

The Professional Learning Institute Ag Ed PL program is underway

DoE – Curriculum Services supporting TAEN to plan and host the 2018

National Ag Educators conference

The UTas Ag in STEM 2 day professional Learning Workshop in February

Continued industry interest and support for Ag Ed, in particular that

facilitated by the TAPG

Specific industry led projects, particularly the TFGA-Agriskills project and

associated initiatives

The launch of the Tas Women in Ag / Rural Youth initiative – Young Ag

Professionals Network (YAPN)

The TAEN has transitioned into an incorporated body with an official

launch and call for membership planned for later in May.

… and of course the continuation of the many fantastic learning opportunities

being provided by our passionate ‘Aggies’ in schools throughout Tassie, supported

by school leadership and guided by the Tasmanian Ag Ed Framework.

Andrew Harris

TAEN Publicity Officer

Issue 1, May 2017 Network Contacts:

Jill Bennett, Secretary

jill.bennett@education.tas.gov.au

Andrew Harris, Publicity Officer

andrew.harris@education.tas.gov.au

M: 0407 871 830

Short Cuts:

NAAE Conference

TAEN Launch

SPO Introduction

Year 11 – 12 Ag Courses

SOC Ag Course

NAAE and PIEFA

Lilydale District High

Week of Tastes

Please forward items for our

next issue to

andrew.harris@education.tas.gov.au

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The TAEN Conference Sub-committee: John Lehman, Sally Murfet, Jill Bennett, Stephen Ives, Madeleine Scott, Cat Nicholls, Chris Johns, Liam Fox, Andrew Harris, Tony Woodward, Greg Vickers

The National Association of Agricultural Educators

2018 National Conference

The TAEN sub-committee charged

with planning for the NAAE

National Conference has continued

to toil away in recent months. In

fact planning for this important

event has dominated TAEN

activity and is likely continue to do

so until January!

However, we are sure you will all

agree that hosting this event, and

doing so to the very best of our

ability, is the perfect way to kick-

start our association and set us on

an exciting and successful path for

the future.

For more details visit:

www.taen.org.au

TAEN Official Launch

The official launch of the Tasmanian Agricultural Education Network as a professional and incorporated association will take place at Campbell Town High School on Friday, May 26th. The executive committee extend a warm invitation to all that would like to attend this informal event and help us celebrate what is sure to become an important part of the agricultural education landscape in Tasmania. The committee also invites applications for membership of the association (see form in this edition). Membership is open to all Tasmanians interested in supporting and improving agricultural education and relevant career pathways. A strong and broad membership will be key to the effectiveness of the association and its ability to meet stated objectives. Membership of the TAEN will include opportunities to assist the planning and presentation of association activity, participate in formal and informal decision-making, attend a broad spectrum of events, engage in online forums and communication, promote and progress specific areas of interest and be informed of relevant issues and events.

Friday, May 26th

6:30pm – 8:00pm

Campbell Town High School Nibbles and Refreshments provided

RSVP to Jill Bennett

jill.bennett@education.tas.gov.au

by Wednesday, May 24th

Guests will hear about the evolution

of the network, key activity for the

immediate future including the

NAAE conference and plans to

progress the network.

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Senior Project Officer

Food and Fibre Production 2017

As part of implementation and support for schools in

the Technologies learning area, the Department of

Education has appointed Karen Weitnauer as Senior

Project Offer (SPO): Food and Fibre Production.

Other SPO roles appointed this year include Dance

and Drama (Jane Polley) and Digital Technologies

(Paula Huett). These roles will continue until the end

of this school year. The focus for SPOs is developing

‘learning snapshots’ to support teachers in each of the

three areas of specialisation.

Karen commenced work in February and has an

extensive teaching background in district high and high

schools. Her area of expertise is Home Economics

education, most recently teaching Food Studies at

New Town High School. Karen is proactive in schools

and particularly interested in food and fibre

connections with the school curriculum. She is a

gardener, avid composter and aims to live a healthy

lifestyle!

Progress to date: Karen has developed a project plan and

timeline, formed two Teacher Consultation groups, one

in the south and one in the north and worked with

several other groups of teachers. Writing is well

underway and drafts are now circulating to teachers for

feedback. Behind the scenes Curriculum Services

Assistant Director Senior Secondary Tony Woodward

and Curriculum Teacher Leader Melinda Williams are

managing the project development.

Towards the end of this year professional learning will be

provided to support teachers in delivering the learning

snapshots. From next

year teachers will have

access to a range of

learning unit exemplars

for food and fibre

production with a

Tasmanian perspective.

Karen can be contacted at karen.weitnauer@education.tas.gov.au

New Year 11/12 Ag Courses Underway in 2017 The much-anticipated courses for Year 11/12 students focusing on food and fibre production are well underway in a number of schools around Tasmania. The introduction of these courses has significantly strengthened the pathway for those students interested in a career relevant to Ag/food and fibre production, particularly those exploring a tertiary qualification. These courses also sit nicely alongside existing VET in Schools certificate courses related to food and fibre production with a number of schools already interested in exploring the potential for this to create a combined VET/TASC pathway in Ag Ed. We look forward to highlighting the progress and outcomes for schools and individual students involved throughout 2017. Judging by the level of interest from schools it appears that many more students around our state will have access to these courses from 2018.

TASC Course Snapshot

Schools offering the courses in 2017 include:

Geneva Christian School

Sorell District School

Scotch Oakburn College

St Mary’s District High School

(in partnership with Campbell Town and St

Helens District Schools)

See a snapshot of Agricultural Systems

at Scotch Oakburn College on page 4

View the Courses Here:

Level 2 Agricultural Enterprise

http://www.tasc.tas.gov.au/_course/AGR315117

Level 3 Agricultural Systems

http://www.tasc.tas.gov.au/_course/AGR215117

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Agricultural Systems (Level 3 TASC Course)

at Scotch Oakburn College 2017

The new TASC course, Agricultural Systems 3, is off and racing with a small, but

enthusiastic class of seven at Scotch Oakburn College this year. This course allows

students to explore the various systems and sub-systems that support agricultural

production and maximise productivity. Student understanding is demonstrated by

researching a case study and by developing an engineering solution to an agricultural

problem or situation. The class is a combination of Year 11 and 12 students.

As the school does not have a school farm, a relationship with Bradley Agriculture at

Longford has been formed in order for students to have access to a diverse mixed

farming operation. The students have also been fortunate to visit TIA at the Mt Pleasant

Laboratories where they met with Dr. Stephen Ives and Dr. Rowan Smith as part of

their preparation for their plant trials that are now underway.

They also had a recent field trip to Agfest where they were able to explore the many

different examples of agricultural innovation on display. Agfest was an excellent

opportunity to meet primary producers, discuss their products and the factors that have

influenced their business. This information will form the basis of the agribusiness case

study where the students analyse an agricultural and/or horticultural system using the

‘paddock to plate ‘model. Together with their engineering design task, this forms the

basis of their externally assessed portfolio due at the end of the year.

In addition to our field trips, the class has been fortunate to have visits from Andrew

Harris (Lead Agriculture Teacher, DoE), Dr Stephen Ives (UTAS) and Mr. Rob Bradley

(Bradley Agriculture) to discuss their work in agriculture. Future speaker visits are

planned for this term, from a production vet and a beef producer, as the focus moves to

animal production. The class is also hoping to visit the Tasmanian Food Company

operations out at Sassafras as an example of integrated systems-based farming, where

the marketing and production methods of wasabi, free-range chicken, goats’ cheese and

dairy products will be investigated.

We are very fortunate to have a course such as this for our students, as there are so

many wonderful examples of innovation and diversity in agriculture right on our

doorstep.

I certainly hope more schools will be in a position to offer this exciting course in 2018!

Mrs. Madeleine Scott

Teacher, Agricultural Systems

Scotch Oakburn College

Watch out for more TASC Course updates from other schools in future issues

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TAEN on PIEFA Website

The Primary Industries Foundation Australia

website now hosts the National Association for

Agricultural Educators online presence,

including a page dedicated to each state

association.

Thanks to Kelly Spence (PIEFA) for getting the

Tassie Ag Ed Network page up and running.

To check out the PIEFA website and stay

informed about various state association news

visit:

www.piefa.edu.au

Elected Officers for the

Tasmanian Agricultural Education Network:

President - John Lehman – DoE, Yolla District School

and NAAE Vice-President

Vice-President - Sally Murfet - TFGA Agriskills Project

Officer

Secretary - Jill Bennett – DoE, Cressy District School

Treasurer - Stephen Ives - University of Tasmania

Publicity Officer - Andrew Harris – DoE, Lead Teacher of

Agricultural Education

Want to know more?

please contact Andrew Harris:

andrew.harris@education.tas.gov.au

Mobile: 0407 871 830

Spatial Technology at Lilydale School Farm

Earlier this year Lilydale District High Ag Teacher, Liz Stanfield, arranged for the DPIPWE Spatial Discovery team, Scott Strong and Leigh Fannon, to visit the school and work with her Year 11/12 VET in Schools (Cert 2 Ag) students. The students used the DPIPWE LISTmap technology as part of their fencing unit. Liz was thrilled with the success of the presentation and the high level of student engagement. Scott and Leigh have presented at two statewide professional learning workshops for Ag teachers in recent years, with a number of teachers taking the opportunity to include the technology in the programs.

To find out more about LISTmap and Spatial Discovery visit:

http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/land-tasmania/spatial-discovery

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AGFEST 2017

TAEN and Hagley Farm School Jordan River Learning Federation

School Farm The Mercury & Tas Country newspaper have once again this year generously supported our network by providing a fabulous space on the Agfest tent. This year we shared the space with Hagley Farm School who offered an activity for primary aged students as part of the UTAS/Agfest Kids Ag Awareness Program (KAAP) learning trail. The Hagley offering included a seeds matching challenge, hatching chicks, butter churn and paddle experience and heritage writing with pen and ink. The TAEN display focused on the promotion of membership and NAAE National conference.

Students from the Jordan River Learning Federation School

Farm had a fantastic day at Agfest 2017, meeting local

industry members and exploring career paths in agriculture.

The students also ran an animal nursery, which was enjoyed

by many of the Agfest patrons, both young and old,

highlighting some of the animals that they work with on a

weekly basis.

Some of the JRLF School Farm team

REGISTER NOW TO PARTICIPATE

Please forward items for our next issue to: andrew.harris@education.tas.gov.au