KINGSTON-On-Murray Primary School is one of 10 schools statewide to participate in a program that teaches students how quality South Australian grain is grown.
The Growing Great Grains program will see teachers and students explore the journey of wheat, chickpeas and oats from paddock to plate.
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said the program will highlight the sustainable nature of grain production in South Australia.
“It is important students understand how their food is produced and the role agriculture plays in our everyday lives,” he said.
“Our grain industry is one of the state’s largest economic contributors from primary industries and agribusiness revenue, contributing almost $4.2 billion.
“There are currently about five jobs for every one graduate of agriculture and agribusiness higher education courses, so we hope this program might even inspire the next scientist, farmer, or agribusiness innovator.
“Educating students about the importance of the food we grow in South Australia is an initiative that will pay dividends later on.”
Kingston-On-Murray Primary School teacher Phillip Lawson said he was grateful for the opportunity.
“The program has been fantastic for the kids and I’m so grateful,” he said.
“This is the first time the school has had any access to anything like this since I’ve been here and the program has so far been very insightful.
“We’ve been interacting with a plant scientist through videocall who teaches our students and all the equipment and resources have been provided.
“It’s really important to get students learning and thinking a bit more deeply about growing plants and things for food, especially in this region.”
Mr Lawson said the students have enjoyed the lessons so far.
“All up we will have eight lessons and so far, we’ve had two,” he said.
“The students like the idea of hands-on learning and this is what it’s all about.
“Although the program is aimed at year 5 students, I have students from years 4 to 7 participating and they’ve all been very engaged.
“They want to check up on their experiments every day and being able to connect them with something like this has been amazing.”