Belmont students are buzzing to get outside

Students from Belmont Academy in Ayr are getting hands-on experience of working outdoors as part of a new Skills for Work programme launched with Scotland’s Rural College.

Fifteen S4 students started on the year-long Rural Skills programme this month after many of them took part in an eight-week taster session last year to get a feel for the course.

While some already know they want to work in land-based industries such as agricultural engineering, farming or wildlife conservation, for others it is their first experience of outdoor work.

The programme, which is being funded by the Prince’s Trust, offers the opportunity to learn outdoors with project partners such as the National Trust for Scotland.

Cath Seeds, Programme Leader for Countryside Management at SRUC, said: “The rural sector is a vital part of Scotland’s economy and this programme aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge to support their advancement in this exciting sector.

“The students will take part in practical and classroom-based learning in a variety of topics including estate management, land-based industries, employability skills, soft-landscaping and crop production.”

SRUC is hoping to extend the programme to other schools in the area in a bid to raise the profile of rural land-based education and employment.

Students who take the programme can progress onto a wide range of courses at SRUC, ranging from Countryside Management, Agriculture and Biological Sciences to Horticulture, Vet Nursing and Golf Management.

Posted by SRUC on 06/09/2019