WOULD-be cowboy, Johno, came face-to-face with a dairy calf on Friday when Bobs Farm embraced its rural heritage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There’s no questions, now, where his milk comes from, and he had these two important things to say.
Firstly, the calf was “soft” to touch.
And in case you were wondering, his favourite milk flavour is “chocolate”.
How about strawberry? “No, chocolate,” Johno confirmed.
He’s one of 32 students across two composite classes at the school where the learning often takes place outside the classroom.
The school took part in the Udderly Awesome Dress-Up Day appeal, coordinated by the South Coast’s Vincentia High School.
Students at participating schools statewide went dressed up in the cow theme on Friday and paid a gold coin.
The Lions service organisational will use the money for dairy farming disaster relief with much of inland NSW awash.
Johno’s classmate Paige made a presentation on where milk comes from. Her dad, Callum Mercer brought the calf in from their nearby farm-stay.
“She did really well, I’m proud of here and all the students here,” he said.
“We gave her the books and she learned how the milk is pastuerised and homogenised. Then she took some photos of the cows at home to show the students.”
The students brought their grandparents, or an elderly neighbour, to school for the occasion.
“We thought we would combine all these ingredients for one big event,” teaching-principal Megan Elliott said.
“We often encourage the students to come up with a topic so they can research if and give us a talk.
“We’ve had a great reaction from the grandparents.”
The day was celebrated with milkshakes after lunch.
Earlier in the week the students learnt another important agricultural lesson; bees.
They learnt about native bees in particular and their critical role with pollination on farms, and how to extract honey.
The presenters, entomologist Dr Tim Heard and Dr Tobias Smith, a native bee researcher, spoke about bees, flowers, pollination and honey harvesting.
With their help the school has established a native bee hive.
The school’s next big project is its 2018 centenary celebrations. It is now collating a history to mark the event.