Five fluffy Angora goats have joined the farm at Oak Flats High School. The farm already has cattle, sheep, an Alpaca, Boer goats and chickens, as well as European and native bees.

The technologies head teacher, Steven Ayrton, says the farm is part of the Technology and Applied Studies department, with students able to take subjects such as Agricultural Technology (Years 7-10) and in senior school the VET (Vocational Education and Training) subjects focusing on Primary Industries and Blended Agriculture.

The school’s farm dates back to the 1970s when there were a lot of dairy farms in the Oak Flats area. On leaving school, many young people worked on the farms and the school’s agricultural courses were excellent training. In the 1990s, when the dairy industry became deregulated, many of the farms closed but the school kept its five acres.

The Angora goats were chosen because of their potential value: fleece prices can reach up to $50 per kilo and the goats can be shorn twice a year.

Primary industries teacher Kylie Stubbles says she grew up on an Angora goat stud and knew they had a great temperament. “The students can feel confident handling animals that size and there are also competitions the kids can enter that feature the goats,” Kylie says.

Recently the students learned how to ‘crutch’ an Angora goat – a process that involves trimming the fur around a goat’s teats so baby goats are able to properly feed.

Teenagers learn many skills, from how to incubate eggs and how to build fences, all of which are in demand in jobs in the agricultural industry.

“Our students do have an advantage,” Kylie says, “as other schools without farms might be learning how to sprout in their agricultural subjects, whereas our students are raising animals.”

The farm also has a bee garden, a cooking garden for Home Economics students and a section for fruit, herbs and vegetables. Last year
the students’ pumpkins won second prize in the produce category at the Royal Easter Show.