While most Mt Albert Grammar School students grapple with the more usual classroom studies others are out getting hands-on agribusiness lesssons on the school’s 8.1 hectare farm.
The cows and sheep grazing on a farm with a good view of Auckland’s sky tower is the story being told by the third Dairy Women’s Network visual story telling project – Our people, their stories.
The school farm was established in 1932 when the Auckland Horticultural Society decided city children were losing knowledge of farming practices and asked Mount Albert Grammar to teach agriculture and horticulture.
The Auckland Savings Bank, now ASB, got involved and special legislation was passed to allow the bank to buy land from the neighbouring Kerr-Taylor sisters’ farm and lease it to the school at a peppercorn rent.
This year 260 years 10-13 students are studying agricultural and horticultural science, up from 160 only 18 months ago.
Development manager Peter Brice said the focus is about connecting kids with opportunities in the agri-food and fibre sectors.
“It’s about milking dairy cows, shearing sheep, pruning vines, whatever it might be,” he said.
“It’s a pretty special eight hectares in the middle of Auckland.”
For young Auckland Mt Albert Grammar School agribusiness student Rose Young it’s been exciting.
With her sights set on a career in agriculture the farm just makes going to school so much more motivating, Young said.
She acknowledges she is not the typical Auckland city teenager.
“For a lot of people in Auckland they sort of wonder what’s my why, why am I doing this.
“It’s central Auckland, which is a bit crazy for me to be into agriculture I guess.
“But when I’m here I don’t feel like I’m at school. I feel like even though I’m learning so much while I’m doing it, it’s more or less just something that I’d love to do anyway,” Young said.
“It’s very different to what I’m used to or what anyone in Auckland is used to.
“It’s just great to get outside and for girls it is really cool and especially because we have such great female teachers who get us into it as well.”
Out of its multicultural roll of more than 3000 the school now educates more than 200 students annually from years 10-13 in agricultural and horticultural science with urban kids getting the chance to experience rural farm life without leaving the city.
Farm advisory group chairman Mark Heer said the farm connects and engages with city school students who would not normally be exposed to a rural environment.
“A strength of the Dairy Women’s Network is engagement and connection, which aligns well with the goal of the farm to engage and connect the agri-food and fibre industries with urban school students.
“There is a natural alignment between the two organisations that works so well and it’s all about creating more awareness and understanding about rural farm life and taking that to the greater New Zealand,” Heer said.
In 2013 a new lease was signed between ASB and the school board of trustees with ASB leasing the land to the school for an effective 99-year term at a nominal annual rent of a dollar.
There are plans to build a new agri-food and fibre experience centre, which could be a central hub for agri-business in Auckland, Brice said.
The farm is the third story to feature in the network’s Our people, their stories project, which aims to foster a greater understanding of dairy farming.
Network chief executive Jules Benton said it has been a wonderful experience getting into heartland NZ to meet some fantastic people and tell their amazing stories.
“It really has been truly special.
“The first two stories have been so well received and we know this one will be too as its quite different from the first two,” Benton said.
