One hundred primary schools across New Zealand are now better resourced to teach their students about food and farming after winning George the Farmer book sets in a recent competition run by Rabobank.
The competition – which ran in late July and early August – was open to all primary schools across the country. The winning schools were informed of their success in mid-August and the educational book sets (made up of six George the Farmer books) were delivered earlier this month.
Rabobank New Zealand head of Client Councils Jeffrey Morrison said this year’s competition was the second edition of the competition following its first iteration last year.
“We were really rapt with the response to the initial competition – which saw 45 sets of the books given away – and, based on the huge volume of entries we received, it was pretty clear to us that there is strong demand from schools throughout the country for this type of agri-focused teaching resource.
“So we made the decision to run the competition again and this time around we decided to more than double the amount of book sets we gave away.”
Morrison said as part of the competition entry process, entrants were asked to provide a brief explanation on why their nominated school should receive a set of the books.
The George the Farmer book set giveaway was one of several Rabobank Client Council initiatives helping to grow and strengthen rural communities.
“This particular initiative links nicely with our agri education and rural/urban connection themes, and we’re hoping this latest book giveaway will help boost young Kiwis’ knowledge of food production.”
Morrison said feedback from the winning schools is now flowing in, including from Midhirst School, a small primary school located 35km southeast of New Plymouth in Taranaki.
“Midhirst were entered into the competition by school parent Claire Bishop,” he said.
“In her entry, Claire said the books would ‘bring a bit of farming to the classroom’ and ‘help start a conversation about the important role farming plays in bringing kids their milk and Weetbix in the morning’.”
Jennie Molloy from Te Miro School, another of winning schools, said the books had proven a hit with Te Miro students.
“The books are wonderful! The children absolutely adore reading the stories, and it’s clear from their excitement and engagement how much they appreciate them,” she said.
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