Nominee Summary
The project is a truly collaborative partnership between Glen Urquhart High School, Affric and Kintail Land Management Group, Glen Strathfarrar Deer Management Group, Affric Highlands, Developing the Young Workforce, Ardgay Game & Tim Maddams. The project has just completed it’s third year and provides an opportunity for all S2 pupils (around 40 pupils) to spend two days on local estates, culminating in a final "Dragons Den meets Masterchef" Challenge day where pupils cook a venison burger from scratch and present their ideas for a venison street food business to a panel of professional judges.
The preservation of skills
Supported by a network of project volunteers from local estates, conservation organisations and local businesses, young people have the chance to find out about rural land management and the wide range of rural jobs and careers available right on their doorstep. By spending two days outdoors on local Estates, young people have the opportunity not just to connect with nature and the outdoors, but to spend valuable time with professional stalkers, ecologists, foresters, rangers, wildlife photographers, chefs, lodge managers, local food producers, and rural business marketing professionals. They also have the opportunity to learn about and participate in a range of land management activities including camera stalking, venison production (including hands-on butchery and cooking demonstrations with a professional chef) and ecological surveying. As well as learning about the range of traditional jobs and skills involved in rural land management they also learn first-hand about how technology is increasingly being used in traditional practices- such as the use of satellite deer collars and thermal drones to count deer. As well as developing a range of skills in deer tracking, map reading, plant identification and habitat assessments, young people are also learning valuable life-skills in learning to cook with healthy locally sourced sustainably produced venison. By being outdoors, the project is also able to easily incorporate many aspects of the curriculum including biology, geography, maths, history and business studies, all in truly inspiring rural learning environment.
Increasing awareness
The project is now in its third year and is a true community partnership between Glen Urquhart High School and a range of local estates, conservation organisations and local businesses who all give up considerable time to support the project and to invest in the future of local young people. The teachers see a value in this type of project in being able to introduce young people to a broad range of rural jobs available in their local environment and the Developing the Young Workforce initiative is a key partner in supporting this aim. By including the whole class of S2 pupils (up to 40 pupils in each year), the project is introducing young people to a range of jobs and careers they may never have otherwise considered from the more traditional rural roles such as deer stalking, gamekeeping and forestry to opportunities in conservation, tourism and small business development involving new technologies. As such, the project is inclusive and is designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of interests and learning abilities of the young people participating. The project also tackles the important topic of health and well-being and by encouraging young people to get outdoors and enjoy nature as well as supporting them in making sustainable healthy food choices and teaching them important life skills like cooking - the project is helping build resilience in young people for the future.
Ethical/environmental standards
The project partners include Affric and Kintail Land Management Group and Strathfarrar Deer Group who are both within the catchment of the High School and who are involved in landscape scale management of deer and land to deliver a range of public benefits and who carry out deer management to the highest standards following Best Practice. One of the project partners Affric Highlands is involved in a local landscape scale conservation initiative and the project also partners with businesses local to the school such as Ardgay Game who provides the school with venison to use in the cooking competition. The Forestry Commission provide carcasses to the project shot to the highest standards of welfare. The local community provides support to the project through local small grants to enable the project to happen and even the local Shinty Club provides a minibus for the project to use. The project uses local facilities such as Cannich Community Hall and catering supplies are bought form the Cannich village shop.
Noteworthy improvements
The project simply couldn't run without a truly collaborative partnership between the school (the enthusiasm and support from teaching staff is incredible), the Deer Management Group members (private estates, conservation organisation owned land and public land owners) and volunteers ( stalkers, estate staff, ecologists, photographers , chefs, venison producers and marketing professionals from Inverness ). Each year we are able to build on the successes of the last year providing equipment to the school such as cameras and outdoor clothing to build capacity for future years. This collaborative effort has been recognised in magazine articles and was also featured on the Radio 4 Food Programme. Through the success of everyone's efforts and by raising awareness of the Project, it will hopefully inspire other initiatives elsewhere.
Overcoming Challenges
The project involves 4 days of class time (an initial introduction day, 2 days spent outdoors on an estate and a follow up day in class for the cooking competition and team presentations) and was initially pitched to the School by Affric and Kintail Land Management Group and the Developing the Young Workforce Initiative. The initial challenge was gaining the trust and support of the High School teaching staff to undertake such a project but this was overcome through being able to provide a network of highly trained volunteers with outdoor training qualifications and being able to show the multiple links to the curriculum through the project activities. The second challenge was in taking 40 pupils outdoors over two days in March in unpredictable weather conditions! Through funding and donations the project has been able to provide the school with sets of outdoor clothing and footwear to ensure that no pupils are disadvantaged. The third main challenge is funding for this type of project which we have been able to overcome through accessing local community funds and grants to support the hire of minibuses and some professional time.
