The world needs creative, innovative and courageous young people who can connect, collaborate and act. We know that youth may only be 20% of the population but they are 100% of the future. The time is now to let them share their dreams and design the future they want to see.
Congratulations to the Chair of our Youth Voices Leadership Team Dr Jo Newton who has just been announced as a finalist for the First National Real Estate Leadership Award, part of the 2018 Victorian Young Achiever Awards. This is an absolutely amazing achievement and one to be extremely proud of – well done Jo !
The First National Real Estate Leadership Award acknowledges young people who set an example through their leadership and drive, paving the way for others to follow.
Jo is a young research geneticist working with the dairy industry who selflessly inspires others to pursue careers in agriculture. Eight years ago she founded the Farming Futures Project at the University of New England – a careers fair showcasing agricultural opportunities, and today she mentors young scientists and visits schools to encourage students to realise their own agricultural journey. She has been recognised with the 2017 Dairy Research Foundation Symposium’s Emerging Scientists Award and the 2018 Endeavour Research Fellowship. Jo is regularly invited to speak about her passion and through her leadership and drive is paving the way for others. See Jo’s story in AGWomen Global here
Agriculture is cheering for you Jo #strongwomen #youthinag
Many of our Young Farming Champions have the agricultural show movement in their DNA and are committed to giving back to their local communities by taking active roles to ensure our rural and regional shows remain relevant and have longevity. Young Farming Champions Steph Fowler, Hannah Barber, Tim Eyes and Jasmine Nixon ran the Cattle Experience at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in 2014
We are excited and very proud to announce that a number of our Young Farming Champions are moving from leadership development to leadership roles.
We salute them. Its a courageous step moving from leading yourself to leading your team. It can be both very challenging and very rewarding
As leadership guru Zoë Routh says
None of us wants to be a dud leader. We want to contribute, we want to have an impact, and help improve the lives of others, ourselves and the planet. We take leadership as a serious stewardship opportunity. We need to develop confidence born from purpose not pride.
Leadership is both personal and public. Deeply so. Who we are and how we show up causes effects. Sometimes it’s a ripple in a pond, sometimes a deep and steady current, sometimes a tidal wave! Crafting and managing our leadership presence is as much an imperative as designing good strategy. After all, if we don’t get heard, we don’t advance our cause.
Leaders committed to making a difference and contribution face certain challenges:
Performance under pressure when the stakes are high demands enormous focus, energy, and nerve. We need to learn control of our emotions, so they don’t control us.
Leaders with strong opinions can be engaging. They can also be polarising. Our responsibility as leaders is about bringing people along for the ride, not pushing them into the car. We need to learn to express conviction without coercion.
Young Farming Champions Steph Fowler and Hannah Barber are taking this courageous journey to leadership roles through the Australian Agricultural Show movement.
Hannah Barber (right) and Stephanie Fowler have inspired in schools as part of The Archibull Prize and are now leading the next generation of #youthinag
Steph first entered the Young Farming Champions Program in 2012 and the skills she developed have held her in good stead in her role as Chair of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW’s Youth Group.
Dr Stephanie Fowler’s day job as a meat scientist keeps her very busy but she is a multitasker giving back to the industry she loves through many volunteer roles
The prestigious RAS Youth Group is responsible for the engagement and entertainment of both rural and urban youth at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. It does this through three avenues: a social networking event, Agrichats – where topical issues are discussed – and the Young Farmers Challenge, which highlights the technical skills and the abilities of youth working in agriculture to urban audiences in a fun and entertaining way. The Youth Group also assists other RAS committees with competitions and events.
For the last two years of her five year term, Stephanie has held the role of Chair, a challenging position requiring her to oversee people of her own age. “As Chair it is my job to facilitate meetings and to make sure that the group is on track and on task. The biggest challenge comes from the fact we are all peers, but unfortunately sometimes in leadership there are times that you have to step up and be not popular to get something done.”
And how does she overcome these challenges? “With lots of mentoring, which has helped me get to the point where I have an understanding with everybody that I’m a friend when I need to be a friend but there will come times, and it’s nothing personal, that I’m not and that’s the way of the role.”
Her mentors, who include former Art4Agriculture events coordinator and RAS Youth Group Chair Kirsty Blades and councillors from the RAS, are people with whom she has created relationships, giving her support when the going gets tough. “They take some of that weight off when you have to make those harder decisions but sometimes it is not things you want to hear. Criticism and negative feedback actually allows you to step back and be reflective; to reassess where you are going with your leadership.”
“Being a leader is probably one of the toughest but most rewarding things I think anyone could ever do. There is something about putting yourself forward like that and stepping up that seems to highlight all the parts of yourself that you really wish you didn’t have. But in the same way being able to see people grow and develop, and witnessing their journey, which you can be a part of and have an influence on, is probably one the most rewarding things I’ve had the privilege of doing.”
Young Farming Champion and secondary school teacher Hannah Barber also holds a leadership position with agricultural shows as President of the Agricultural Societies Council (ASC) of NSW Next Generation, which is designed to attract young people into show society executives.
Hannah Barber is a busy girl . A school teacher by day and president of Agricultural Societies Council (ASC) of NSW Next Generation in her spare time
Hannah’s role as president, which she has held since 2016, sees her liaise with the ASC as well as members of Next Gen who range in age from 18 to 35 and who have a passion for agriculture and an enthusiasm for the show movement. “The president adopts a leadership role and my duties are heavily liaison and managerial, but the entire ASC Next Gen committee are outstandingly driven and capable which makes my role very easy,” she says.
Hannah’s connections to agricultural shows began in her childhood when she competed in horse events, and was strengthened with the Showgirl Competition where she twice made it to the finals at the Sydney Royal Easter Show representing her home town of Parkes. “Most shows in NSW have been running for over 100 years and have been a key event for their communities during this time, allowing them to connect, educate and celebrate. The importance and impact of shows can never be underestimated and I’m committed to doing my part to ensure their sustainability.”
That commitment is evident in her position as president. Depending on the time of the year the job may take only a few hours a week but when events, such as ShowAll Ball and ShowSkills, are imminent the workload increases. It is then that Hannah’s experience and understanding of the show world, and her high organisational and interpersonal skills developed as a teacher come to the fore.
Despite the challenges of dealing with different personalities and personal goals Hannah finds the opportunities the leadership has given her far out-weight the negatives. “Running a non-profit organisation is not a skill many young people get to experience. To be run by, and for, youth in agriculture under the distant but watchful eye of the ASC has made Next Gen a great way to experience this. To climb the hierarchy of positions has given me skills I’ve transferred into the workplace and has resulted in direct benefits including promotions.”
Thanks Hannah and Steph for sharing your challenges and highlights with us. I am confident our supporting partners will agree the return on investment in our youth is significant in terms of creating leaders who’ll continue to contribute value to their workplaces and to the agricultural sector as a whole, in terms of advocacy, teamwork, collaboration, and turning vision into reality .
This post in a replica from The Crawford Fund website see here
The Crawford Fund has a number of strategies as part of our efforts to build the next generation of Australian researchers with an interest in agriculture for development – key elements are our conference scholar program, our opportunities and encouragement in volunteering for projects overseas, and through our work with Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID).
Each of these go some way to encourage students in their study, careers and volunteering in research for food security. This is part of our overall campaign for greater recognition of the impact and benefit of international agricultural research and development to Australia and to developing countries.
Another important strategy has been the introduction of special awards to enable involvement in overseas projects as part of university study.
In 2017, many of our State Committees supported visits to developing countries by students, so they can gain valuable experience and expertise overseas ‘in the field’. 14 awards were provided in 2017, and each of the students have reported back on their experience:
Kendra Travaille, PhD Researcher at the University of Western Australia,
“Being able to visit these areas and speak with local people in the fishery [industry] has greatly increased my understanding of how the fishery [industry] operates and some of the issues impacting FIP progress. I also gained first-hand experience with some of the challenges faced when trying to implement a FIP or similar program in a developing region, including working with minimal resources and balancing complex stakeholder interests. These insights will be incorporated into my research and published in the peer-review literature. Research outcomes will also be presented to the fishery stakeholders in Honduras who so kindly shared their knowledge and experience with me during my time there.”
Emily Lamberton, Graduate Research Officer at ACIAR
“It created a fantastic opportunity to learn first-hand the struggles and barriers experienced by farmers and the factors that influence on-farm decision making.”
Based on the success of our former awards, in 2018 all of our committees are offering these awards so students in every State and Territory have access to this great opportunity.
Requirements in different States are not the same. There is a different number of these competitive awards in different States, and the application requirements and the award amounts also differ, so please read the background information and complete the application form for the State in which your tertiary institute is located.
Please find more information and application forms below for each State. A contact is provided should you require more clarification.
The closing date for all awards is Thursday, 29 March 2018.
All the very best of luck! In the meantime, please sign up for our e-newsletter, follow us on Twitter and Facebook and follow RAID so you don’t miss any other interesting opportunities and get-togethers. In particular, in March 2018 we will be launching our 2018 Conference Scholarships.
It is undeniable that teachers have a major impact on student learning and career choices. We have all heard stories about teachers discouraging students from following career pathways in the agriculture sector. Why is this so?
Industry image also plays a key role in the ability to attract young people into the agriculture sector.
Its hard to be what you cant see. Our Young Farming Championsare proving to be the ideal role models to inspire talented young people to choose agriculture related career pathways
“The language typically used in the farming sector to describe the roles of those employed in the industry is out-dated and reflects a mindset which is unattractive to young people. Farm jobs are advertised in terms such as farm hand, station hand, milker and shearer. These terms suggest low levels of skills, training, intellectual content and consequently low status. This is an inaccurate picture of the actual requirements of the contemporary farm employee. Farms require highly motivated, intellectually capable and broadly competent workers. They need people who are able to deal with a wide range of practical problems promptly and with ingenuity. Farm workers need to keep up with the latest research and developments in agronomy and business management. They need to be able to operate and maintain a wide range of technologies from the mechanical to the digital. They need to understand the impacts of global events and markets as well as local policy and market variables. They need significant financial planning and management skills, as they may be dealing with multimillion dollar budgets and regular transactions in the hundreds of thousands. These are exciting, diverse and challenging roles. Little of this comes across in the current nomenclature used to describe jobs in the agricultural sector and in the way the industry is depicted in the media and popular culture”Source
The Archibull Prize program entry surveys confirm this outdated image of careers in agriculture with students struggling to identify careers in the sector beyond farming related activities. Most of the students’ words were about activities that farmers did i.e. feeding, harvesting, gardening, shearing, milking, watering.
In following Word clouds the larger the word in the visual the more common the word was used by the students.
‘In 2017, more than 323,000 people were employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing but if you consider those employed in the farm input and output sectors, the National Farmers Federation (NFF) says agriculture supports more than 1.6 million jobs in areas like transport and logistics, retail and processing. That means roughly 80 per cent of agricultural jobs are beyond the farm gate and the opportunities are wide and varied.’ Source
With 80% of careers supporting farmers both beyond and behind the farmgate year on year The Archibull Prize evaluation shows us the key to success is exposing teachers and students to exciting young professionals working in diverse roles in the agriculture sector. A key hook for both teachers and students is the innovation, science and technology that drives 21st century farming. It is also pivotal agriculture provides them with the tools to workshop the diversity of careers.
Students and teachers relate to exciting young professionals working in the agriculture sector
By the end of the competition students have a specific and varied repertoire related to actual career classifications rather than jobs around the farm. This is evident with more technical words being used i.e. agronomist, vet, engineer, scientist, geneticist.
With a large cohort of our Young Farming Champions being scientists and agronomists their impact is evident through the high numbers of students who listed ‘Agronomist’ or ‘Scientist’ role. This is further confirmed as students listed their top three choices of careers in agriculture they would consider.
Students as the end of The Archibull Prize were asked to list their top three choices of careers in agriculture
With 89% of teachers in The Archibull Prize exit survey saying they were now confident teaching about careers in Agriculture and a 52% increase in the number of teachers who STRONGLY AGREED there are lots of opportunities for jobs and careers in agriculture its clear we have found a winning formula
The Archibull Prize program design allows agriculture to be embedded into the school curriculum across subject areas its hasn’t been traditionally able to reach. After participating in the program 83% of teachers said they would use learning activities about agriculture in other areas of their teaching.
The annual Archibull Prize program is now open for secondary schools in Central Queensland.
Competing for cash prizes and the national title of Grand Champion, participating schools will research the Australian cotton industry while creatively transforming life-size fibreglass cows into amazing agricultural inspired artworks.
Which Cotton School will meet Costa in 2018
Schools also create a suite of digital multimedia communications and are paired with Young Farming Champions who visit schools, taking the farm straight into the classroom.
As a former participant in The Archibull Prize, Central Queensland agriculture extension specialist Sharna Holman says she appreciates the opportunities the program gave her.
Sharna now works in the cotton industry for the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) and CottonInfo as a Regional Extension Officer and continues to be involved with The Archibull Prize by speaking with participating schools.
“Being involved in the Archibull Prize while at high school gave me a better understanding of where my food and fibre came from and highlighted the exciting pathways and careers available in cotton.” Ms Holman says.
“I’m looking forward to visiting schools in the region in 2018 to talk with students about the Australian cotton industry and share the passion and stories young people have for the industry and agriculture.’
Participation in The Archibull Prize is a chance for students and educators to put their school on the map, with the 2017 National Grand Champion winner travelling from Brisbane to the iconic Sydney Royal Easter Show to the halls of the NSW Parliament.
“Over the past seven years The Archibull Prize has engaged more than 160,000 students in conversations about agriculture and consistently shown that the students involved were deeply engaged in a range of learning experiences,” says Archibull Prize program director, Lynne Strong.
“Teachers saw the impacts first-hand of a successful combination of arts and multimedia activities, along with STEM project-based learning activities across multiple key learning areas. Put simply, The Archibull Prize is a successful addition to any learning program.”
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay says the organisation has proudly supported the Archibull program for many years.
“The Archibull Prize is a fantastic way to inform young people and educators about our industry and farming in general,” Mr Kay says. “When coupled with the Young Farming Champions program, we have a powerful way to engage with future and current generations about the value of the cotton industry and agriculture as a whole.”
“We encourage schools NSW and Queensland to participate in this extremely worthwhile program and look forward to seeing the products of their efforts on proud display.”
Teachers and students will be inspired by Cotton Young Farming Champions like James Kanaley
Watch the video and hear what teachers are saying they value about The Archibull Prize
“With the amount of waste increasing in Australia by nearly 8% a year, it’s time for us, as a nation, to seriously re-examine the ways we consume and dispose of consumer items?’
GERRINGONG PUBLIC SCHOOL IS BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS OF THEIR GRAND CHAMPION KREATIVE KOALA COMMUNITY PROJECT AND TAKING THEIR LEARNINGS NATIONALLY WITH AN INVITATION TO BE A MODEL SCHOOL IN SERIES TWO OF ABC TV ‘WAR ON WASTE’
Gerringong Public School and science teacher Sue Hassler catapulted themselves into the pilot program of Kreative Koalas with an unmatched enthusiasm to learn more about recycling and waste management, and in doing so won the award for best community project.
Their creation combined their artwork, Captain Koala, with a TerraCycle Drop-off point. “Our project is unique because we have combined our koala into our community project,” the school said. “We have turned this object into a purposeful and decorative addition to our school. We hope to inspire better knowledge of and involvement in recycling, especially through the provision of this collection point for hard to recycle items such as toothbrushes, Nescafe coffee pods and pump dispensers.” Last year we collected over 60,000 Terracycle items which the school receives 1 cent per item for, this money comes back into the school to help with our sustainability work.
Gerringong Public School won $500 for their efforts but the longer-term applications of their learnings are what makes this such as successful project.
Gerringong Public School was supported by legends local artist Penny Sadubin and Sustainability Ambassador Jaime Lovell through their Kreative Koala journey
During the Kreative Koalas journey the school participated in a plastics audit and was astounded to collect 822 pieces of plastic including chip packets, snap lock bags, clingwrap, foil and muesli bar wrappers. A second audit found an additional 494 pieces of plastic in the school’s water easement. These plastics became the focus of the school’s war on waste.
“I realized that every syllabus or curriculum had an underpinning in sustainability and nearly every topic had some direct content related to the environment,” Mrs Hassler said. “I showed the students Mission Blue with Sylvia Earle, and then we talked about plastics; their break-down periods, where they come from and why they are a problem. Then we looked at their lunchboxes and how we could minimise plastics in them. We saw a huge change in lunchboxes and there is now a lot less clingwrap, for example, coming into the school.”
Gerringong Public School then overhauled their bin system. Now waste is separated into paper, foil and hard plastics, Terracycle (chip and muesli bar packets)and landfill. “With a school of 430 kids we’ve gone from filling 21 landfill bins each week to four and they are usually only a quarter full,” Mrs Hassler said.
In addition, the students made beeswax wraps as an alternative to cling wrap and Ziploc plastic bags, which can take five hundred years to break down. So successful was this part of their war on waste that parents began asking for after-school workshops to make their own. The school canteen also came on board with eco-cups, metal spoons and a reduction in the use of foil, and recycling bins were put in the staff room and library.
The school has been very successful in educating and engaging their local community using Facebook, school newsletters and their local newspaper The Bugle with Captain Koala now becoming a community teracycle facility
“It’s an ongoing process of watching what the waste is and it takes a long time for people to understand that what you’re doing is important,” Mrs Hassler said. “There’s no point in teaching literacy and numeracy if we’ve wrecked our environment in the meantime. It becomes about starting independent action with nine and ten-year olds and that’s just gold for me. I’ve got kids who’ll come to me and say, ‘On the weekend, we picked up all these plastics on the beach’ and I feel like they do get it and they’re implementing it in their own lives and making a difference.”
Gerringong Public School is a shining example of the power of collaboration to take courageous steps to create change. Though driving of change may start with one champion, it is the movement, and in this case the students who are everyone’s future, who will make it a reality.
Kreative Koalas focus of collaborating with thought leaders who back the next generation of young people who are going to rethink the world and create a better future is something we can all be involved in and be proud of.
See what all our Courageous Kreative Koala schools are doing here
Watch this space for more on the adventures of Captain Koala.
News Flash
The Kreative Koalas program welcomes Sue Hassler as our 2018 Kreative Koalas Ambassador. In this role Sue will be supporting schools in the Southern Highlands of NSW to help Australians meet our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Sue Hassler shares the highlights of Gerringong Public Schools Kreative Koalas expereince
Tail of Pigs – The winner of The Archibull Prize 2017 Best Biosecurity Animation was Little Bay Community of Schools
The Little Bay Community of Schools concept is the perfect example of how successful schools can be when they pool their resources and expertise. Little Bay Community of Schools brings together the five primary schools who feed into Matraville Sports High School to provide transitional relationships to secondary school and to promote Matraville Sports High School as more than just a sports school.
Principal Nerida Walker and head teacher of art Sarah Robinson has been involved with The Archibull Prize for five years, successfully taking Matraville Sports High to Grand Champion Archibull on two occasions. They saw The Archibull Prize as the perfect vehicle to work closer with their feeder schools.
In addition Sarah was instrumental in developing the UNSW Matraville Education Program– an affiliation that gives high school students exposure to additional arts and science classes, and give teachers from the university hands on experience working with students. For this Matraville was awarded our inaugural Alan Eagle Award in 2016 – presented to a school fostering partnerships between education, business and the community.”
Since 2016 Sarah has been playing a mentor role to other schools involved in The Archibull Prize and 2017 saw Little Bay of Community School take out the NSW Government Biosecurity Award for their Tail of Pigs animation
The NSW Government sees a strong biosecurity system as vital for protecting our primary industries, our economy and our community.
Agricultural production alone provides:
$12 Billion NSW Primary Industries contribution to the economy
39,000 Agricultural businesses in NSW
42,000 Farms in NSW
66,000 People employed in NSW Agriculture Industry
$8 billion value of NSW Agricultural exports
With a vision of Government, industry and the people of NSW working together to protect the economy, environment and community from the negative impacts of animal and plant pests, diseases and weeds for the benefit of all, the government is investing heavily in education programs for farmers and the community including schools.
Concepts relating Biosecurity are considered by school teachers to be complex. The Archibull Prize gives students a concrete mechanism for these very abstract ideas. Using farmers as role models and agricultural examples students are encouraged to appreciate the ways in which farmers are actively addressing biosecurity challenges in Australia and to think about applying this to themselves.
Biosecurity was an issue that 91% of students reported discussing during their Archibull Prize projects with half of those students looking at the topic in-depth
Teachers reported significant shifts in students gaining greater understandings of farmers concerns about biosecurity and the community’s role in preventing biosecurity breaches
Students were particularly inspired by the Cotton Industry ‘Come Clean Go Clean’ program and the concept of the pork industry Pig Pass.
Typical students’ comments about their role in preventing biosecurity breaches included
We need to keep our country free of disease and pests. This can only be done if every single person tries to follow the rules that are put in place to keep Australia bio secure. Students can help be bio secure by respecting the regulations and restrictions on other people’s farms and obeying the rules of our border security. We should wear clean shoes and have clean cars. Remove weeds and don’t drop them in areas where that weed isn’t already growing. Look after their own pets and keep parasites from spreading from them.
The Archibull Prize design allows agriculture to be embedded into the school curriculum across subject areas its hasn’t been traditionally able to reach.
And its had a ripple effect with 83% of teachers saying they will use learning activities about agriculture in other areas of their teaching
Hurlstone Agricultural High School took our the winning biosecurity entries with these phenomenal infographics in 2016
Check out these tongue in cheek biosecurity adventures of our very own Young Farming Champion biosecurity expert Sharna Holman here
Expressions of interest are now open for The Archibull Prize 2018. Make the finals and you too can meet Costa
We have listened and delivered. After a three week judging tour, over 40 video interviews and written teacher case studies we are sharing the secret to success. See The Archibull Prize teacher insights page here. As you can see the definition of success varies greatly
We asked our Lead Teachers questions like.
What are the highlights of being involved in The Archibull Prize?
The growth and the confidence you see in the students and the pride they take in it. How can, as a teacher, you not engage in a project that embraces the students so thoroughly? How can you not give them the opportunity to experience something they take great pride in, that they work above and beyond in, and they’re prepared to give up their time and stay back till 5pm of an afternoon? How can you say no to that?
Jillian Reidy The Henry Lawson High School
The highlights are seeing how engaged and enthusiastic the kids are, and the relationships you develop with them through collaboration and teamwork. Our whole class presents our work, meaning the kids have to get up in front of their peers and they gain such confidence from that. The kids get a real growth through the Archibull – and it’s fun! Teachers and parents all love it.
Tracy Devlin Gwynneville Public School
What outcomes have you seen beyond a painted cow?
We have seen many layers of upskilling of students and educators to work in a large collaborative team on a STEAM project • Project Based Learning in action and on a public forum • The Archibull has been influential in St Raphael’s decision to teach agriculture as a subject from 2018 for the first time.
Inel Date St Raphaels Catholic School Cowra
Can you tell me two things you have learnt about the industry you studies that you didn’t know before The Archibull Prize?
What stood out for all of us were the career opportunities available in the industry – for example we had never given any thought to what an agronomist was. The other highlight was the impact cotton has on the community. I kept asking the girls “What would we do if we didn’t have the cotton industry?
Khanthamala Gifford Blacktown Girls High School
Our Young Farming Champion Peta Bradley told us that wool absorbs odours. She told us of a guy who wore the same woollen shirt for 27 days and it still wasn’t smelly at the end of it!
Melinda Adderly Granville Boys High School
What is the impact of the Young Farming Champions visit on your students?
It’s very important to get the Young Farming Champions into the school as soon as possible, because the kids are literally sitting there thinking that a farmer is going to be some old guy in a hat with straw hanging out of his mouth. So, when they see these young, dynamic people and they’re like, “Whoa, what? You’re a farmer?” It shocks me. It happens every year and they’re still doing that because they don’t know. It really opens their eyes up
Sarah Robinson Matraville Sports High School
Dione Howard was really amazing. Its fantastic to see young women in agriculture. Being a young person off the land, the ideas that she could share, it was very real. It was so cool for the kids to meet her and hear about her life.
Lisa Bullas Calvary Christian College Carbrook Campus
Now is your chance to sign up and be a part of The Archibull Prize 2018. Send me an email for an EOI at lynnestrong@art4agriculture.com.au
The Archibull Prize is a world-renowned art and multimedia competition focusing on the theme of ‘Feeding, Clothing, Housing and Powering a Hungry Nation is a Shared Responsibility’.
This innovative and fun STEM project based learning program is an agricultural and environmental themed art competition for primary and secondary student groups
The Archibull Prize program:
Brings the farm into the classroom
Introduces students to young people working in the agriculture sector
Provides opportunities for students to gain knowledge and skills about the production of the food they eat, fibres they use and the environment they live
Creates an opportunity for students to work together to create an amazing artwork that tells the story of agriculture
Builds relationships between schools, industry, business and the community
Raises awareness of exciting career
Fosters two-way conversations and builds lifelong relationships between consumers and farmers
Competing for cash prizes and the national title of Grand Champion, participating schools research a food or fibre industry while creatively transforming life-size fibreglass cows into amazing agricultural inspired artworks.
Schools also create a suite of digital multimedia communications and are paired with Young Farming Champions who visit schools, taking the farm and their career straight into the classroom.
Being a part of The Archibull Prize is a chance to put your school on the map, with the 2017 National Grand Champion winner travelling from the iconic Sydney Royal Easter Show to the halls of the NSW Parliament.
Over the past seven years The Archibull Prize has engaged over 160,000 students in agricultural conversations and learning experiences. Teachers saw first-hand the impact of a successful combination of arts and multimedia activities, across multiple key learning areas. Put simply, The Archibull Prize is a successful addition to any learning program.
