NEWS AND EVENTS

Count & Grow with Superspud 2007

Thank you to all the schools and farmers who participated in the Count & Grow with Superspud project 2007.  Once again the tatties grew with various degrees of success in the RNCI area but congratulations to the winning class from Auchenblae Primary School who with the help from link farmer Geo. Doig grew a tremendous 3519g of potatoes.

Auchenblae

Primary School

with there

winning crop

of potatoes.

The RNCI Count & Grow Results 2007

Well done to all the schools who took part in the project and are not listed here due to various challenges that they faced when trying plant and grow their own potatoes!  We hope that you enjoyed participating in the project.

 The overall Scottish winner for 2007 was Kirkstyle Primary School in Ayrshire who for the second year running grew the heaviest weight of potatoes with an amazing 5680g!

If your class would like to participate in the Count & Grow with Superspud project commencing January 2008 keep a look out for the fliers, which will be issued directly to your school.

Science of Farming & the Countryside Day

13 June 2007

Another memorable Science of Farming & the Countryside Day took place at Dunecht Home Farms for fifth and sixth year pupils of Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City Schools recently.

 The day consisted of a series of hands on projects which demonstrated how science and business principles are very much part of everyday farming and countryside management.

 Projects were devised in Higher Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geography by lecturers from the SAC Craibstone Campus who also acted as tutors on the day.  This year for the first time a Home Economics project using a lamb based exercise was added to the choice of subjects.  Projects were all curriculum related but the emphasis was very much on being an educational but enjoyable day.

Jim Arbuckle, Dunecht Home Farms director and event convenor, said “The enthusiasm and interest from both pupils and their teachers at this event is always hugely pleasing and it is very rewarding that we can combine everyday farming operations with aspects of the science curriculum in order to make it an enjoyable and interesting experience for all concerned. We are particularly indebted to our lunchtime sponsors who supplied the local food and catering facilities. Nearly 200 secondary pupils, from such a wide variety of schools, lunching together and enjoying themselves in our grain store at Knockquharn is always a uniquely memorable experience.”

The winners of the PowerPoint presentation following on from the event were
Aberdeen City school Northfield Academy who once again held off strong competition from fellow pupils in the Shire to win the RNCI shield and the category trophies for Biology and Chemistry.  The Geography trophy was won by a group from Aboyne Academy.

Martin Birse, Vice-Chairman of the RNCI and a member of the organising committee said “the obvious enthusiasm of the pupils on the day, the standard of their follow up presentations and the feedback from the teachers is very convincing confirmation of the value of the event to both schools and the industry.” 

To view Northfield Academies winning PowerPoint presentation please click here.

The next Science of Farming & the Countryside Day is due to be held in June 2008 in Moray.  For further details please contact the Project Officer.

Meaty Matters Education Pack

Meaty Matters is an interactive education pack aimed at raising awareness of the importance of red meat in a healthy balanced diet.  It considers how cattle, sheep, and pigs are looked after on their journey from farm to plate, including animal husbandry, basic nutrition and the place of red meat in world religions.

The teaching materials are relevant to a number of areas of the curriculum and are tailored to the new guidance for a "Curriculum for Excellence".  It is aimed at all stages of the primary curriculum but is particularly useful in mid-upper primary school. 

For more details on this excellent resource contact the project officer.