Specialist Support—The Catalyst for Student And Teacher Success

The Rural Learning Exchange is a NSW Department of Education initiative that accommodates rural students who want to study an HSC subject that is not offered by their school. The program enables classes from different, small rural schools to connect across the state, facilitating collaboration between teachers and students.

The RAS Education department identified an opportunity within this program to enhance the agriculture component by working with the NSW Department of Education to provide specialist support for the teachers. With funding from the RAS Foundation, the RAS is supporting and providing a specialist agriculture teacher for the Rural Learning Exchange.

Cecilia Logan, Manager, RAS Foundation explains, “The Federal Treasurer’s 2021 Intergenerational Report states that the job market will intensify significantly, and without proactive action, agriculture will struggle to have a workforce in the future. The RAS wants to support the future of agriculture and agricultural excellence for students, through the provision of outstanding agriculture teachers.”

Emily Blackburn was selected as the Rural Learning Exchange agriculture teacher, charged to fill the gap. Her part-time role under this program is to support the Rural Learning Exchange teachers with instruction, curriculum, and resources.

Initially, the projected outcomes were for Emily to support 10 agriculture teachers, but she has brought so much to the position that the learnings from this pilot initiative are now being applied across a wider scope involving over 50 teachers in New South Wales. Emily’s expertise in differentiation of the learning programs across all key learning areas has been the program’s success catalyst.

This initiative is supported by the Waratah Education Foundation and the Thyne Reid Foundation.