example of a week at dhs school of agriculture
Sarah's Week
Hi, my name is Sarah and I am studying practical Agriculture and Farming Technology. My time at DHS School of Agriculture has been fantastic so far. It’s amazing how much I have learnt as well as having lots of fun and making great friends.I live on the school grounds at the DHS hostel which is like youth hostel-style accommodation and has great New Zealand home-cooked food. Honestly, there’s no week at DHS School of Agriculture that is exactly the same, but I guess they tend to go like this....
Monday
Monday always starts with lectures at 9 am. It’s always hard getting up after a good weekend! We usually have lectures and tutorials for most of the day. These sessions are varied - it could be a presentation by an expert guest speaker on farm accounting practise or a lecture on stud cattle management. Sometimes we have to do a presentation of our observations on our mentored farms. This is to make sure our work books are relevant and worth keeping. And, of course, we have English lessons. This week we will be learning about sheep; farming and management and shearing. After 4pm we do sports training; Netball, Rugby, Swimming, Tennis are all played here – even surfing is possible! I play netball myself.
After training everyone goes to dinner in the dining room. Then we get ready for the first night out of the week. The Dargaville Club is usually open any night of the week and we can go there and socialise and play billiards.
Tuesday
On Tuesdays I have more lectures. We are able to see our Russian speaking councilors at anytime but Tuesday is a good time to speak to lecturers about course work. Because there are only 16 of us, it feels sometimes as if we get personal tutoring.
In the afternoon it's lectures, English lessons and 2 hours of practical instruction as fire fighters, St John Ambulance first aid and practical mechanics for farm vehicles. Every one in NZ seems to do volunteer work in the local community so if you have a particular interest in the museum say, or the Hospice, then this can be arranged.
I study mostly in the evenings, but on Tuesdays I sometimes use the internet and there is always a video to watch.
Wednesday
Wednesday starts our practical tuition. This week it’s a sheep shearing course for 3 days. We go to one of our host farms so it’s up early to be at the farm by 8am. Our tutors start with sheep management in the shed, shed routines, shearing machinery use and care and then we will learn to shear a sheep. We work until 5pm then head back to the hostel and dinner, study, early night, because I will shear my first sheep tomorrow.
Thursday
I sheared my first sheep today. It's a lot harder than it looks when the tutor does it. The fleece was a bit messy and I nicked the sheep once. I baled and learnt to sort the wool.
I worked the sheep in the yards with the help of the brilliant dog called Spot. I am tired. I could go to see a band at the Town Hall but I have 4 more sheep to shear tomorrow.
So it's updating my work book and bed for me.
Friday
4 sheep shorn, course completed and signed off by the tutor. I feel great satisfaction but to shear a 100 sheep a day you would have to be super fit. Watching the shearing, the sweeping, sorting and baling in the shed you see team work at its best and there are lots of laughs when we take our turns. Tonight I think that I will go to the Dargaville Club to celebrate a good week’s work.
Saturday & Sunday
There’s always an organised sports game or social trip on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday night there’s a trip to Whangarei to go clubbing and shopping and occasionally we go to Auckland or the Bay of Islands for the weekend.
