Over 170 school pupils gained the opportunity to try out different practical tasks at the “Taste of Your Future” event that was held on the Barony Campus, Dumfries and Galloway at Scotland’s Rural College.
Pupils got the chance to try out four subjects of their choice, and took part in two other workshops in partnership with DYW Dumfries and Galloway and RHET Dumfries and Galloway, who facilitated the workshops.
A range of tasks were on offer including chainsaw maintenance, potting plants, introduction to vehicle electrics, animal health checks, bandaging and tours round our Dairy Technology Centre – pupils from twelve local secondary schools made full use of the opportunity to sample life as a student on campus.
George Robertson from Dalbeattie High School chose to do Agriculture, Engineering, Estate Maintenance and Forestry. George said: “I enjoyed the agriculture session as I am from a farming background. I hadn’t been to the college before so it was great to see what other subjects were on offer and try out some of the practical work. I found it really useful and it has certainly given me something to think about to help me decide what I want to do in the future”.
Barony’s own students also gave the pupils the benefit of their knowledge learned on their course and helped out with some of the hands-on tasks.
Oliver Mundell MSP for Dumfriesshire who visited the event said: “This is a fantastic initiative which really engages with young people and gives them a taste of what is on offer here at Barony. It is so important to give them the opportunity to train and work within our rural economy.
There is a huge range of highly skilled, well paid and interesting jobs on our doorstep and without days like today the next generation wouldn’t necessarily know they were out there.”
Laura Williamson, Schools Development Manager (South) said: “Taste of your Future is designed to be practical and give pupils an insight into the subjects they may be interested in pursuing. We were delighted with the number of schools that got involved and hope it helped them with future career choices.”
