Royal Highland Education Trust
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-02575, in the name of Colin Keir, on the Royal Highland Education Trust. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament welcomes the Royal Highland Education Trust’s work to promote Scotland’s rural and agricultural environment, farming and countryside activities and food education to Scotland’s young people; considers that Scotland’s urbanisation over recent decades has meant that many children have no direct link with the countryside or experience of environmental issues and that this is a gap in young people’s education; notes that the Edinburgh-based charity has received funding from the Scottish Government to educate children about the role that food plays in their lives through farm visits, working with local companies and introducing food topics in the school curriculum; considers that food education has an important role to play in improving Scotland’s health, helping people to make healthier choices and making them aware of the importance of eating sustainably; further notes that the programme will highlight the career opportunities available to young people in Scotland’s food and drink sector, which provides an increasing boost to the Scottish economy, and welcomes the trust’s aim to deliver its programme of farm and estate visits for 15,000 young people per year by 2015.
17:06
Today, the Parliament acknowledges and celebrates the Royal Highland Education Trust’s pioneering work and its vision of taking the classroom to the countryside. The trust was set up in 1999 as an education charity of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which has its headquarters in my constituency, Edinburgh Western. Its aim is to furnish young people with an enhanced understanding of Scotland’s rural environment and the dynamic nature of farming and countryside activities, as well as farming’s vital contribution to sustaining and enhancing Scotland’s economy and way of life.
Urbanisation in Scotland over recent decades has meant that many children have no direct link with the countryside or experience of environmental issues. The gap in young people’s education has been identified by the Scottish Government, which has allocated funding to the trust to educate children about the importance of safeguarding our environment and the role that food plays in their lives. The policy is implemented through farm visits, work with local companies and the introduction of topics about food in the school curriculum. The Scottish Government has pledged £2 million over three years, to help schoolchildren to understand more about food and how it impacts on their health and on the environment.
Food education has a crucial role to play in improving Scotland’s health, by helping people to make healthier choices. It also makes people aware of the importance of sustainable agriculture. Educating people at a young age about food and the environment means that people have the facts at their disposal and are in a better position to make informed choices about their future. That is why every pupil in Scotland would benefit from the trust’s work. I am delighted that the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, announced funding for the trust in March.
Through its interaction with pupils, the trust also highlights the extensive career opportunities for young people in Scotland’s food and drink sector. The sector is increasingly successful in helping to boost the Scottish economy.
The trust’s programme is delivered by approximately 500 volunteers, who are predominantly from farms and farming backgrounds. They facilitate farm visits and provide classroom talks for young people between three and 18 years old. Visits cover a range of topics, including forestry, horticulture and conservation. In the 2010-11 academic year, the trust reached more than 70,000 children and there was a 20 per cent rise in school farm visits in Scotland.
Across the Lothians, the trust organises, on average, 50 farm visits and 150 classroom visits each year. For instance, pupils from Cramond primary school in my constituency were taken to Craigie’s farm in March to learn about harvesting vegetables, and many secondary pupils have been given talks by farm staff about the business side of farming, which included information on field-scale production and advice about the job opportunities that are created by the farming sector each year.
The trust’s famous fibreglass milking cow, Mabel, has toured primary schools across the country, often as part of schools’ health weeks, when pupils learn about the benefits of drinking milk and how it gets from farm gate to plate.
The involvement and active co-operation of farms and partners are crucial in making the farm visits possible. Craigie’s farm, which is in my constituency, has been providing schoolchildren with a real farming and agricultural experience. Indeed, it recently offered four allotments to schools in my constituency—Kirkliston primary school, Corstorphine primary school, Queensferry high school and St Augustine’s high school—which will give pupils practical training in how to grow their own fruit and vegetables. In the next fortnight, it will host around 240 pupils from schools across Edinburgh, including Davidson’s Mains primary school, over four visits. The pupils will benefit from a full farm tour, which will consist of lessons on fruit production, arable crops and livestock, and they will take part in a nature trail, which will teach them about how farming can work to the benefit of the environment, the significance of planting hedges and field margins, and why they are beneficial. The trust’s financial contribution towards the transport costs of farm visits through partners is important, as it allows many schools to take part in the initiative.
The trust does not lack ambition. It aims to deliver its programme for farm and estate visits to 15,000 young people per year by 2015. That would not be possible without the co-operation of its partners and sponsors. Scottish Natural Heritage, for instance, contributes by teaching young people to appreciate the roles and diversity of natural habitats that are encountered on farm and estate visits. Eco-schools development officers focus on enhancing young people’s understanding of the relationship between food and the environment.
The trust’s work undoubtedly reflects the aims and rationale of the curriculum for excellence. Outdoor education offers many opportunities for interdisciplinary working, and the trust offers in-service courses on farms and estates to encourage teachers to take their classes on visits. It also provides free educational resource materials and encourages school competitions.
It is clear that the trust’s work is receiving recognition not only from the Scottish Government and many business organisations across Scotland; countries such as Australia and Italy are taking a keen interest in its development.
I understand that the trust is on the point of liaising with the Scottish Government on how its work can be built on further. I look forward to the outcome of those discussions. I also look forward to this year’s Royal Highland Show, which will take place in Ingliston in a couple of weeks’ time. It is expected that around 25,000 children will participate in the children’s discovery centre there.
Once again, I commend the trust and its staff, some of whom are in the gallery.
17:13
I congratulate Colin Keir on bringing the issue, which is particularly relevant and important, forward for debate, and welcome the chance to comment on the educational work that the Royal Highland Education Trust is undertaking to promote the countryside, which is an essential component of Scotland’s cultural and economic fabric. As we have heard, the trust provides opportunities for schoolchildren across Scotland to investigate various aspects of countryside life through activities such as farm visits, school competitions and classroom talks by farmers. It has been stated that more than 15,000 children have been able to experience working farms and estates first-hand. That is a 20 per cent rise on the previous year. I think that we would all not only support the trust’s aim of sustaining that level of interaction annually by 2015 but urge it to increase that level.
As always, there are lessons to be learned from the work of our neighbours. My mind is drawn to innovative efforts that are being made in Iceland, where the Alcoa Foundation has funded outdoor schoolrooms in order to make the environment in general a natural part of the curriculum.
Such events and experiences have intrinsic value. They give children in urban settings the opportunity to experience rural life, albeit briefly sometimes. As part of the curriculum for excellence, they give children the opportunity to understand better where the food in their fridges and pantries originates.
As a councillor, I visited Shetland during the Highlands and Islands convention, where I was privileged to hear from schoolchildren who had been introduced to crofting. It was inspirational to hear how enthusiastic they were about a sector that is often viewed as unattractive, largely because people have not experienced the satisfaction and contentment of seeing the benefits of their own work in an area as important as growing one’s own food or animal husbandry.
However, the Royal Highland Education Trust does so much more than that. The food and drink sector in Scotland is truly one of our success stories: it had an £11.9 billion annual turnover in 2009, which indicates that we are well on our way to meeting our £12.5 billion target for 2017. My region, which is synonymous with world-class food and drink exports, employs some 25,900 people in that sector. That demonstrates the importance of a thriving agricultural sector to underpin the rural economy of Scotland.
Many more people take part in related activities on a part-time or self-employed basis, and crofting is a popular and long-standing part of Highland life. The inclusion of crofting in any educational materials would be welcome, and would open up even more future business opportunities for our young people. I therefore encourage the trust to work in conjunction with the Crofting Commission to integrate such material into its future programmes.
By showcasing to our young people the opportunities and careers that are afforded by our burgeoning food and drink industry, we not only instil a pride in Scotland’s produce but cultivate future generations of farmers, distillers and brewers to further support us in growing that sector.
The Royal Highland Education Trust’s work in this field is to be encouraged. I support Colin Keir’s motion.
17:17
I thank Colin Keir for bringing the debate to the chamber. As the motion states, the Royal Highland Education Trust works
“to promote Scotland’s rural and agricultural environment, farming and countryside activities and food education to Scotland’s young people”.
In the words of farmer—and friend—Jim Warnock, who has been involved with the trust for many years,
“RHET is the fastest growing branch on the tree of learning with 1 in 8 primary school children in contact with farming, either through a classroom talk or a farm visit.”
In my view, RHET does a brilliant job—much of it through the dedication of volunteers who offer their services for free. They range from experienced farmers to agricultural students, and the support of the Scottish Government is essential for that work to continue.
The motion highlights the lack of a link between urban children and our countryside. Perhaps surprisingly, many children who live in villages have no direct experience of farms, either. They do not know how farms work and how food is produced, nor do they understand the sequence from farm to plate—or, as Colin Keir said, “from ... gate to plate.”
As a primary teacher, I was involved in a number of RHET initiatives, and a visit to Feufield Ltd’s smallholding in Clydesdale—which is part of the RHET scheme—with a rural primary school highlighted those valuable connections. We picked plums, washed and measured them, then boiled them with sugar and water. While they cooled, we were sent off to hold baby ducklings and play the game of distinguishing between different breeds of chicken and matching them with the right colour of eggs. Having—of course—washed our hands, we designed our own labels, put the jam in jars, then took it home to share with our families. The children made a recipe book that included ingredients that could either be bought at a farm or grown by them. It was all about food preparation and cooking, rather than about fast food.
In these days in which we question consumerism, the opportunities to connect with where our food comes from can inspire people to buy more local and, one hopes, more affordable food. Its accessibility from cities, however, is another question for another time.
I have seen the enthusiasm with which pupils begin to grow their own vegetables and herbs—whether it is tomatoes in a greenhouse or basil in a window box—and how they connect with the older generation in sharing that experience.
As part of the same project through RHET, the children invited a young agriculture student to come to the classroom to talk to them and to answer questions about training to be a farmer and what it is like to juggle planning rotation, getting up early to milk and—yes—being computer savvy in order to fill in the common agricultural policy forms. That brought the industry alive in a realistic way and inspired one or two young people of both genders to consider a farming future.
There was also a visit to Sandilands farm in Clydesdale, where pupils were welcomed by the Warnock family. Jim Warnock has said:
“We tick all the boxes on curriculum for excellence and outdoor learning and are aiming for 1 in 4 schoolchildren benefiting from our countryside activities by 2020.”
All visits are risk assessed, but it seems to me to be unnecessary that that should have to be redone by busy teachers—as was the case for my visit—when a risk assessment has already been done through RHET.
Jim Warnock has welcomed many farm visits. He tells me that children fire questions at him on numerous aspects of food production. I will give some examples of the questions that they ask: “If a white cow gives white milk, does a black cow give black milk?” “Why do sheep only have teeth on their bottom jaw?” “Where are the keys to your quad bike?” “Does your collie dog count sheep to help it sleep at night?”
As the motion highlights, the farm visits also allow children to become aware of the opportunity to walk in the countryside, and to become aware of the footpath and access codes, which enable children and their families to share safely the experience of going out and about in the countryside. RHET helps children, their families and the wider community to connect, or to reconnect, with farms and rural life, and it reminds us of the joys of fresh air and fresh food. I heartily commend its work and ask the Scottish Government to continue to support it.
17:21
I, too, congratulate Colin Keir on highlighting all the fantastic work that the Royal Highland Education Trust does, and on securing the debate.
In March, I witnessed the trust’s work at first hand, when I accompanied some pupils from local primary schools from across Dumfries and Galloway, who were on an educational visit with the trust, to learn more about local farming and food production. I was delighted to see the engaging way that the trust has developed of teaching young people about sustainability, about where their food comes from and about the journey that it goes on. From farm to fork is the idea behind the food and farming event that I took part in, and the primary school pupils lapped up their day at Wallet Marts Castle Douglas Ltd’s auction market. At the end of the day, they even got to take part in a mock livestock auction, and they made a fine troop of auctioneers.
The development of innovative ways of teaching our young people about rural life, the importance of knowing where their food comes from, and the processes that are involved is key to ensuring that, in the future, the food and drink industry is sufficiently sustainable, and not just in rural Scotland but in the country as a whole. The way in which RHET is doing that is exemplary, and I know that a number of schools around the country are keen to implement similar teaching practices.
I also know that the trust is working hard in all areas of Scotland and that, in Dumfries and Galloway alone, it managed 37 farm visits and 159 classroom speakers in the most recent academic year. Dumfries and Galloway obviously has a close and important link with its rural community, and never has that link been stronger than it has been this year.
The fact that Dumfries and Galloway holds the presidency of the Royal Highland Show in 2012 means that it has a fantastic opportunity to showcase what the region has to offer the country from its food larder. Last year, nearly 25,500 children from around Scotland visited the Royal Highland Show through the RHET children’s discovery centre, as Colin Keir mentioned. I am sure that the children who visit it this year will be impressed by the whole show, including Dumfries and Galloway’s contribution to it. Interestingly, information from the trust about this year’s discovery centre says that it offers
“a range of fun, interactive and hands-on activities for children of all ages”.
I certainly look forward to trying it out for myself when I am there the week after next.
I will cite some more astounding figures on the trust’s work. In the 2010-11 academic year, it reached more than 70,000 children and it achieved a 20 per cent rise in the number of school farm visits across Scotland. That is a key indicator that schools are recognising the importance of rural communities in our society and are embracing the opportunities that are afforded them through the trust.
Much has been put on the record about the importance to the economy, both local and national, of the agriculture and food and drink industries in Scotland. Scotland Food and Drink states that its mission is to grow the food and drink industry to £12.5 billion by 2017, and that its vision is to build Scotland’s international reputation
“as ‘A Land of Food and Drink’”.
To achieve that ambitious but extremely achievable goal, education is vital. As the trust would say, that education needs to be provided to children of all ages.
The possibilities for the future of food and drink in Scotland—and in Dumfries and Galloway, in particular—are exciting. Just this morning, we heard about a £1 billion investment by Diageo that will benefit many rural communities, and we can look forward to investment on a similar scale for the food industry. As the providers, suppliers and growers of some of the best produce in the world, we should encourage our young people to take pride in what their country has to offer in the sector.
I support Colin Keir’s motion, and I congratulate the Royal Highland Education Trust on all the work that it is doing to enthuse, educate and inform people about rural Scotland. I also look forward to future visits with it in Dumfries and Galloway.
17:25
I warmly congratulate Colin Keir on his motion, which encapsulates the very essence of members’ business debates, and I am delighted to be taking part in the debate this evening. I am greatly indebted to Colin Keir for successfully prevailing on his party whips to bring forward the debate by two weeks from its original slot, because I would not have been able to take part in it on 20 June, and it is a debate in which I very much wanted to take part. I am not, of course, suggesting that that is the only reason why Colin managed to get the date changed.
For most of the past century, no school year was complete without a visit to a farm. For urban and rural pupils alike, the farm outing was an essential part of the education process, providing a tremendous hands-on opportunity to discover more about where our food comes from and what goes into its production. Then, for a variety of reasons, such visits ceased to be a regular part of the curriculum. The advent of television, health and safety restrictions, E coli, fast food, ready meals and host of other factors conspired to bring to an end the hands-on experiences that had forged such a strong link between town and country. That link was broken: I am sure that no member will argue that it does not need to be restored.
The link’s restoration was clearly the aim of the people who decided to establish in 1999 the Royal Highland Education Trust as the educational charity of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. I have the great honour of serving that society as its president for the year 2011-12 and, as such, will be heading up the president’s initiative at the show to highlight the very best of Dumfries and Galloway.
As Colin Keir vividly highlighted, RHET has enjoyed a phenomenal first decade of achievement through its programmes of farm visits for schools, classroom appearances by volunteer farmers, the provision of free educational resources for schools, outdoor education events across Scotland, and a range of other initiatives and projects. Not least of those is the schools education programme for visiting schools that is run during the Royal Highland Show, and the truly amazing children’s discovery centre at Ingliston. If I might be forgiven, I will make a quick plug and encourage every MSP and researcher who goes to this year’s show to make sure that they visit the discovery centre before they leave. They will not regret doing so.
As other members have said, RHET’s work could not be done without the input of the army of volunteer farmers who participate. It is also right to acknowledge the incredible job that is done by the small but utterly dedicated and committed team of local co-ordinators, without whom RHET would simply not exist. Indeed, in the past year or so of my involvement, I have learned that the paid infrastructure of RHET is absolutely minute when compared with the results that it has achieved. That is largely due to the work of Alison Motion, RHET’s project manager, and her team at Ingliston, along with the co-ordinators. I am delighted that Colin Keir was able to confirm what I could not with my failing eyesight, which is that Alison and some of the RHET team are with us in the gallery tonight. I was not too sure until Colin Keir said so.
It is through their drive and inventiveness that we are faced with wonderful projects such as the recent tractor tour of Dumfries and Galloway that visited all 103 primary schools across the region, and the presence of various projects such as Daisy, who must be Mabel’s cousin. Daisy is a hollow plastic cow who can be hand-milked—I know because I have done it myself—to demonstrate that milk does not begin its journey in a carton. The two-day plough-to-plate events that take place across the country have helped schoolchildren to make the link between wheat and bread, cows and yogurt, and pigs and bacon, and to understand the many other links that exist in our food chain.
RHET does great work. In its words, it
“aims to provide the opportunity for every child in Scotland to learn about food, farming and the countryside, and to create a wider understanding of the environmental, economic and social realities of rural Scotland.”
Who could possibly disagree with that?
17:30
I, too, commend Colin Keir for this members’ business debate, which affords the Parliament the opportunity to recognise the tremendous work of the Royal Highland Education Trust with its 12 countryside initiatives across Scotland, and which allows this member to make an unashamedly parochial speech.
The Angus countryside initiative is one of the longest running in the country and is still developing. In addition to serving the schoolchildren of the county, from playschool and nursery age right through to secondary, it has moved into the city of Dundee. Although the initiative draws its board from throughout Angus, the influence of constituents of mine in driving its work could not be more keenly felt. The trustees of the Angus initiative include Gill Lawrie from Arbirlot; James Black from Backboath; Leela Martin of Letham; Alison Stoddart from Inverarity; Alistair Hodnett from Tealing; and Andy Reid of Kingennie.
All told, about 25 farms across Angus have been risk assessed for hosting visits and 50 farmers are trained to go into schools to talk to kids about food production. That is taking the countryside into the classroom and the class into the countryside. Gill Lawrie and her husband William alone host a dozen or so visits a year to their Newton of Arbirlot farm, which I had the pleasure of visiting last year. A group of primary 1s from the nearby Muirfield primary school is due there a week on Tuesday and it is a matter of regret to me that other demands mean that I am unable to accept the invitation to join them.
I say that not least because I am fearful that the Angus countryside initiative committee might think that I am ducking out of actively supporting its work. I also have an invitation to attend a schools visit that the committee is hosting this Friday prior to the Angus show, in which 90 primary school children will gather in Brechin to hear about various aspects of farming, including dairy, arable and soft fruit production. That field-to-plate type event, which will utilise various of the show’s marquees as they are being prepared for the weekend, was the brainchild of a couple of groups of young farmer volunteers. The ACI committee, along with Angus Council’s education department, seized upon it. I wish the committee every success with that. Unfortunately, along with many members, I will be in Edinburgh attending the business in the Parliament conference, which it should be said will spare me the usual soaking that one gets in Brechin during the Angus show weekend, although that pleasure still awaits on Saturday. However, I promise to get along to an event in future because, as an Angus MSP, I am entirely behind the terrific work that the Angus countryside initiative does on the ground in our county.
I thank Colin Keir for securing the debate. I encourage all members who attend the Royal Highland Show to drop in on RHET’s stand, which I am told is located a couple of avenues behind the National Farmers Union Scotland stand, so that we can see for ourselves the work that the organisation is doing. However, I am advised that Thursday and Friday are perhaps best avoided, as that is when the majority of the 25,000 schoolchildren who are expected to visit will attend, so it might be rather congested.
17:33
Several members have welcomed the debate. On behalf of the Scottish Government I, too, thank Colin Keir for the motion, as it is right that we take time to highlight and celebrate the contribution of the Royal Highland Education Trust to teaching Scottish schoolchildren about the issues surrounding food, farming and the countryside. The charity provides a crucial link between urban and rural communities and is making great strides in helping to promote a better understanding of our way of life and of how to enjoy the countryside responsibly.
In my teaching days, a pupil asked me whether hens laid eggs hard and with a little stamp on them. I will ask the minister a question to which I do not know the answer: does the hen lay eggs that are soft and then harden? I am thinking of the hen.
One party trick is to boil one egg and not another, put the two on a desk, get them both spinning and then put one’s hands on both of them to stop them spinning. When the hands are lifted off, the soft egg—the one that has not been cooked—will restart spinning and the other will not. As the teacher has taught me something, I hope that I have taught her something.
I absolutely agree with what Colin Keir said about healthier choices for the young and about careers in food and drink. The food and drink sector is important to our economy and appropriate choices about food and drink are important to people’s health throughout their lives. I am sure that RHET is contributing to people making healthier choices.
As someone who was brought up in a rural community, I find myself doing things that seem to astonish my officials when I am out and about, such as, on a visit to a farm, picking a bit of clover and just sticking it in my mouth to get that wonderful, sweet flavour. They look at me in horror—“What are you doing, minister?” That is the sort of thing that we country dwellers do naturally. It reconnects us to nature.
My earliest recollection of a farm is from around the age of three, when I was sitting on a wall somewhere near Wick, having been asked to count the sheep coming through the dip. I suspect that my counting was somewhat inaccurate, but it probably introduced me to an important concept for use in the urban setting.
I am disappointed to say that, this year, I will not be at the Highland show, as I am taking part in the Rio+20 conference and I will not be back in time.
We heard some interesting revelations. Jean Urquhart talked about the Alcoa Foundation in Iceland funding outdoor school rooms. That sounds interesting. If we can just get the weather management under control, that would be absolutely excellent.
Claudia Beamish introduced quite an important side reference in her remarks when she talked about children washing their hands. It is helpful for children to learn that, when they go to the farm, it is perfectly safe, as long as they take care of themselves and make sure that they do not transfer the wrong things from their hands to their stomach. That is part of the learning process that is applicable in quite a wide range of areas. She spoke warmly of the contributions of Jim Warnock, a farmer in her region, to the education of children who visit his farm.
I was similarly delighted to hear Jim Warnock’s name mentioned. I am sure that the minister will join me in applauding the fact that today, at Scotsheep 2012 at Dumfries house, he received an award in recognition of his contribution to the sheep sector.
I am delighted to hear that. The cabinet secretary was speaking at Scotsheep this morning. I do not know whether he was the one who made the award, but I am always delighted to hear of achievement in our rural sector.
Aileen McLeod talked interestingly about the next generation of auctioneers. Perhaps if they fail at auctioneering they can come and be politicians instead.
Alex Fergusson was one of the members who referred to Alison Motion, who is in the public gallery. She has been the key person in the co-ordination of much of the activity. Alex Fergusson also talked about milk. That took me back to when we used to go camping in rural areas. In those days, I used to be sent down with the milk jug, which would be filled directly from the cow and would be in the cup within 10 or 15 minutes. That is the kind of thing that today’s children just do not realise, but people such as I do.
Graeme Dey came up with the best phrase of the debate: classroom into the countryside; countryside into the classroom. If that does not capture the essence of what the trust is trying to do, nothing else will.
Does the minister recognise that RHET has an important role to play with regard to promoting a safer Scotland and the fewer knives, better lives agenda, as people such as gamekeepers can show young people that knives are used only for work and gralloching deer rather than taking to Kirkcaldy or Glenrothes, as one pointed out on a children’s visit that I attended?
That is perfectly correct, and demonstrates the breadth of experience that can be crammed into often quite short visits in order to show that the countryside is a real part of their life, even if they spend comparatively little time in it. Reference has been made to the curriculum for excellence and the role that what we are talking about can play in it.
The debate has been wide ranging and it has picked up on the interests of many people. Although the motion refers to it, I have not heard directly in the debate about the support that there is from a number of companies for the initiative. I welcome the fact that they are putting a bit back. It is proper that companies such as Tesco, and others like it, which sell the products that come from the country, are making contributions to the initiative, and I welcome the fact that they have done so.
Whether it is through farm visits or through working with local companies, embedding food topics in the curriculum, food education and education about the countryside are key to helping young folk understand the role that food plays in their lives. All the encouragement that we can give and that the trust gives is to be welcomed.
I again recognise the fantastic work that the trust is doing and its success in delivering a programme of farm and estate visits for 15,000 young people per year by 2015. Let us all join in wishing it all the best for its future success.
Meeting closed at 17:41.