Students at Hawkesdale College in the Western District of Victoria, on the Wool Overview Program.
Funded by AWI, RIST's Wool Overview Program provides hands-on training to secondary school students across Victoria, with the aim to inspire and grow them into the next generation of Australia's wool industry workforce.
Through its Wool Overview Program, Rural Industries Skill Training (RIST) targets students in years 9 and 10 (as well as students up to year 12) at about the time when the students are choosing what career to pursue.
The program is led by wool industry experts and incorporates hands-on, engaging and practical on-farm training and insights, as well as providing a holistic overview of the wool processing pipeline and the many career pathways available in the Australian wool industry.
Since 2016, RIST has delivered the three- to five-day program to about 200 students from schools across Victoria including Hamilton, Camperdown, Mortlake, Derrinallum, Hopetoun, Edenhope, Casterton, Hawkesdale, Portland and Stawell.
RIST has witnessed a high percentage of program attendees continuing their agricultural studies and undertaking traineeships in the farming sector.
Woolgrower support is vital and the program has been enthusiastically embraced by a generous cohort of growers, shearers, service providers and wool professionals volunteering their farms and time to encourage young people's interest in the wool industry and agriculture.
Among the participants, some are selected as having previously become disengaged from learning. RIST Shearing and Wool Handling Program Coordinator, Raelene Laidlaw says it's particularly pleasing to see these students inspired by the sector.
"During the past six years since RIST and AWI have partnered to deliver the program, we've seen a number of students re-engage in their learning and find inspiration in the many careers on offer in the wool industry. Many have gone on to continue studying with RIST and are now working in the sheep and wool industry," she said.
Left and Right: Lachlan Phillips and Sophie Taylor of Monivae College in Hamilton, Victoria, on the Wool Overview Program.
What skills do the students learn?
Led by industry expert trainers in conjunction with support from the wool sector workforce, students take part in activities including shearing, handpiece maintenance, penning sheep, learning about the parts of a fleece, wool handling, wool classing, sheep breeds, workplace health and safety in the shearing shed, working with stock and sheep dogs, pastures, and value adding to meat and wool produced.
Tours to wool stores, saleyards, the National Wool Museum at Geelong; and wool testing, wool brokering and wool fabric processing facilities; as well as on-farm visits during sheep pregnancy scanning; have received extremely positive feedback from students and the industry alike.
RIST has also been able to incorporate Virtual Reality experiences into the delivery, providing the students with an insight into advancements in processing technology in the wool industry and garment manufacture.
This article appeared in the June 2022 edition of AWI's Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
