Down through the years, Roscommon CBS boys’ school, where a group of students have produced a video on farm safety, always had an active agricultural science class, according to teacher Louise Gallagher. To give an example of student innovation, Louise highlighted the following:
For the past three years, the school has been in the Irish Angus Producers Group finals.Last year, a group of students produced a smaller farm safety video and they got to the final of the HSA awards.The school hatched the eggs of hens and ducks in an incubator.Louise spoke of the brilliant buzz this created among the school community. There was a live camera on the incubator where the students could monitor every move.
Students were given a responsibility every morning to pick the eggs and to let the chickens out of the coup for a while and after the last class to put them back in again. “It was a brilliant experience for people who are not from an agricultural background, where they might not have experienced something like this before,” Louise said.
The CBS in Roscommon also teaches agricultural science to the female students from the Convent of Mercy. The projects with which the school entered the BT Young Scientist were all agriculture-orientated.
A call to action
For Louise and her class, the effect of farm accidents resounded with them all. “Hearing about the many farm accidents around the country, along with the lack of farm safety in the current agricultural science curriculum, sparked the idea of the video on farm safety. We were also inspired to produce this video due to the fact that a third-year student in our school was injured in a farm accident and there was a lack of information online. It wasn’t suitable for students, it was aimed at older people. These students are at the age where they might be getting summer jobs working on farms – they are a captive audience. It is vital that they are aware of the dangers while working on farms.” Louise feels that the video the class created is not just limited to students studying agricultural science, but to all students, especially in country schools, and also to Macra na Feirme groups.
Transition year safety focus
The group of six students who produced this video are mostly from farming backgrounds and were in transition year last year. However, the full class helped out. The students involved are aged 15 to 16. They felt that they didn’t know much about farm safety before they began making the video.
One student, not directly from a farming background, felt that he really wanted to find out about the issue and highlight its importance. The project grew as the students’ interest was cultured by the real people of their own age involved in accidents.
Target audience
The target audience for the video is teenagers and students, but the message is clear to everyone. The students again highlighted the lack of farm safety in the current agricultural science curriculum.
The challenge that faced the students while producing this video was getting young people to talk about their own accidents and experiences.
On completion of this project, all involved strongly felt that they became more aware of safety and its importance on farms. They remarked that they became aware of how easy an accident can happen and that spending a little extra time on everyday tasks can be the difference in preventing an accident. They felt they now see dangers they never took note of before. The students said you will take more precautions when you are aware of the consequences.
The video will be launched in the school hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 25 January. All are welcome and encouraged to attend the event which will include guest speakers and light refreshments. The video can be viewed online on the CBS Roscommon FarmSafely channel on YouTube. Louise expressed her thanks on behalf of the class to Pat Murphy from the Acorn Group who sponsored the video and to all involved in the production.
Down through the years, Roscommon CBS boys’ school, where a group of students have produced a video on farm safety, always had an active agricultural science class, according to teacher Louise Gallagher. To give an example of student innovation, Louise highlighted the following:
For the past three years, the school has been in the Irish Angus Producers Group finals.Last year, a group of students produced a smaller farm safety video and they got to the final of the HSA awards.The school hatched the eggs of hens and ducks in an incubator.Louise spoke of the brilliant buzz this created among the school community. There was a live camera on the incubator where the students could monitor every move.
Students were given a responsibility every morning to pick the eggs and to let the chickens out of the coup for a while and after the last class to put them back in again. “It was a brilliant experience for people who are not from an agricultural background, where they might not have experienced something like this before,” Louise said.
The CBS in Roscommon also teaches agricultural science to the female students from the Convent of Mercy. The projects with which the school entered the BT Young Scientist were all agriculture-orientated.
A call to action
For Louise and her class, the effect of farm accidents resounded with them all. “Hearing about the many farm accidents around the country, along with the lack of farm safety in the current agricultural science curriculum, sparked the idea of the video on farm safety. We were also inspired to produce this video due to the fact that a third-year student in our school was injured in a farm accident and there was a lack of information online. It wasn’t suitable for students, it was aimed at older people. These students are at the age where they might be getting summer jobs working on farms – they are a captive audience. It is vital that they are aware of the dangers while working on farms.” Louise feels that the video the class created is not just limited to students studying agricultural science, but to all students, especially in country schools, and also to Macra na Feirme groups.
Transition year safety focus
The group of six students who produced this video are mostly from farming backgrounds and were in transition year last year. However, the full class helped out. The students involved are aged 15 to 16. They felt that they didn’t know much about farm safety before they began making the video.
One student, not directly from a farming background, felt that he really wanted to find out about the issue and highlight its importance. The project grew as the students’ interest was cultured by the real people of their own age involved in accidents.
Target audience
The target audience for the video is teenagers and students, but the message is clear to everyone. The students again highlighted the lack of farm safety in the current agricultural science curriculum.
The challenge that faced the students while producing this video was getting young people to talk about their own accidents and experiences.
On completion of this project, all involved strongly felt that they became more aware of safety and its importance on farms. They remarked that they became aware of how easy an accident can happen and that spending a little extra time on everyday tasks can be the difference in preventing an accident. They felt they now see dangers they never took note of before. The students said you will take more precautions when you are aware of the consequences.
The video will be launched in the school hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 25 January. All are welcome and encouraged to attend the event which will include guest speakers and light refreshments. The video can be viewed online on the CBS Roscommon FarmSafely channel on YouTube. Louise expressed her thanks on behalf of the class to Pat Murphy from the Acorn Group who sponsored the video and to all involved in the production.
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