The Grand Champion Archibull in 2020 was designed and painted by students at Penrith Valley Learning Centre. Pictured are students, Electra and Kandis with Lead Teacher Tara Wagner
A herd of colourful cows will make appearances on Sydney streets in 2021 as Picture You in Agriculture’s acclaimed Archibull Prize once again inspires secondary students to imagine and create a better future. The Archibull Prize is an innovative project-based learning initiative connecting students to food and fibre production within the sustainability conversation.
As part of the program schools are tasked with identifying a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal important to them and their region, exploring its challenges and opportunities. They will then design, deliver and report on their Community Action Project, create a digital learning journal and put their findings on their fibreglass cow in the form of art a case study report and an artwork on a life-size fibre glass cow featuring their future-focused solution for their area of investigation. The students will be assigned a Young Farming Champion and encouraged to identify tertiary, business and government organisations with whom they can partner in their quest to take ownership of the challenge and share their findings and recommendations.
Lynne Strong is the program director.
“This year all of our schools are located in Sydney, in clusters, which is a targeted approach to minimize our footprint and ensure teachers can take advantage of the professional learning opportunities we deliver,” she said. “We are excited to have a diverse range of schools including private and state schools, schools with low socio-economic status and schools where 97% of students are first-generation Australian with English as their second language. The Archibull Prize is proud to provide equal opportunity learning to all students, regardless of circumstance.”
Winners of the 2020 competition and Grand Champion Archibull school Penrith Valley Learning Centre will be joined in 2021 by Pymble Ladies College, James Ruse Agricultural High School, Eden College – Youth Off The Streets, Merrylands High School, The Scots College, Centre of Excellence in Ag Ed _Richmond Ag College, Mary MacKillop Catholic College and Riverstone High School.
In addition three regional schools – The Henry Lawson High School in Grenfell, Lake Illawarra High School in Wollongong and Beaudesert High School in Queensland – will re-join the program after being deferred last year due to COVID.
Schools considering engaging The Archibull Prize as part of their curriculum in 2022 are encouraged to come together to create clusters, in order to enhance their selection in this highly sought after program.
Check out some of our extraordinary past artwork finalists