For the past 15 years, Elderslie High School has been exhibiting at the Royal Easter Show with great success. This year, the school continues its winning streak by bringing home ribbons in the poultry and pumpkin categories, with more to come in the alpaca exhibit. The classrooms are festooned with winning ribbons, but the school is most proud of the intangible benefits to the students' well-being and self-confidence.
“It’s public education at its absolute best,” said principal Jennifer Lawrence. “These are students – and their teachers – giving, giving and giving.”
The Narellan school has a well-established farm, an award-winning agriculture teacher, and enthusiastic students who volunteer to care for the many ducks, chickens, alpacas, and rabbits before and after school. Agriculture coordinator Megan Atkinson said the Royal Easter Show is “the pinnacle” in agricultural competitions for the school of 1,000 students.
“The kids just love it, and they work so hard on the farm to prepare the animals for the show,” she said. “You see quiet students grow in confidence as they have to speak and present to the judges, and the older students train the younger students and take on a mentor role.”
Elderslie High School students took consecutive second to sixth places in the school’s poultry showmanship category at the Royal Easter Show, having hatched and raised their ducks, chickens, and roosters six months ago. The students had to choose a bird to exhibit and learn how to handle them to keep them calm for judging. They had to answer the judge’s questions on stage about the characteristics of the breeds, which included Indian Runner ducks, Junglefowl, and soft feather birds.
Among a clutch of awards for poultry, Elderslie High School students were first in the layer team competition from 44 school entries, first in the meat bird pair female, and second in the meat bird pair male champion. The school also won champion and reserve champion categories for chickens and waterfowl.
The Royal Easter Show school poultry competitions are always hotly contested. Ducks, geese, and chickens were first judged in open competition in 1858, which expanded over the years to include pheasants, quails, turkeys, pigeons, and egg production.
Elderslie High School's success at the Royal Easter Show is not only about the ribbons but also about the personal growth and development of the students. Megan Atkinson received a Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021, for her 25 years of experience in teaching agriculture and developing the school’s farm and animal nursery program.
“People often complain about ‘the youth of today’; well, this is the other side of the coin. These are students – and their teachers – giving, giving, and giving,” said Jennifer Lawrence, proud principal of Elderslie High School.