On track

New accommodation facilities at Longerenong College will be fully operational by the end of the year, ready for more students in 2024.

Longerenong College head of campus Avril Hogan said the construction was on track as planned.

“Hopefully, we will have the two, seven-bedroom units done and ready to be occupied in July. The whole facility will be finished by December,” she said.

The upgrade includes three seven-bedroom units and three four-bedroom units.

“If anybody wants to book it out, they can – it gives us the capacity for more students and more trade blocks, reunions, events and conferences,” Ms Hogan said.

“Locks Construction is our builder and has done a great job.”

“We are showing students a little bit about wool classing and wool pressing and they are watching our current students at our shearing school,” she said.

“We are going to do a livestock identification class in the feed lodge, showing the different kinds of cattle we have.”

Ms Hogan said the day also involved a visit to the data farm and an agronomy exercise.

“It’s a taster for these students to understand that agriculture is not just driving tractors – there are drones, technology, wool, livestock, animal health and nutrition,” she said.

“For students that might want to be vets but can’t get into veterinary medicine, they can come here and learn about livestock and be a livestock adviser and be out in paddocks and working with animals – it’s just letting them understand what is available.

Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN executive officer Tim Shaw said his organisation had received strong interest from schools wanting to be involved.

Mr Shaw said the program would immerse students in an engaging selection of ‘hands-on’ agricultural and STEM activities at Longerenong College and industry partners.

He said encouraging students to consider careers in agriculture would help meet a skills shortage in the industry.

“The aim is to increase awareness of the broad range of careers in agriculture,” he said.

Mr Shaw said the immersive activities would be delivered in a series of camps lasting between one and five days.

He said during camps that lasted multiple days, students would stay on site to get the full Longerenong College experience.

Mr Shaw said it was estimated 154 students would be involved in visits and camps at Longerenong College, aided by the funding.

There are 252 students from seven schools booked to attend, with further opportunities to be provided next year.

Mr Shaw said the initiative was a great opportunity to learn about the many avenues that a career in agriculture could lead to.

“Agriculture is not just about farming,” he said.

The project is funded until March 30, 2024.