Northland College agricultural students took an end-of-year trip to Telford for a week of skills assessments to meet the practical skills of their vocational programme, as well as gaining a taste of student life on SIT’s agricultural campus.
The students, accompanied by their teacher, Geraldine Tilly, made the long journey from Kaikohe to Telford in early November to spend a week demonstrating their practical skills in end-of-year testing, to meet the requirements of their Agriculture programme.
Northland College established three vocational programmes – Agriculture, Hospitality and Carpentry – more than 20 years ago, to introduce real-world skills training to the school. They first visited Telford in 2005. “A lot of our students are practical learners,” Mrs Tilly explains.
Northland College is in the unique position of having a 460-ha dairy farm attached to the school; it includes a forestry block, with 175 ha effective for dairy. Agriculture students have access to learning the skills necessary in operating the farm, where 300 cows are milked once a day. “The students do everything,” says Mrs Tilly, “milking cows, calf rearing, farm maintenance, fencing, water reticulation, weed spraying, and quad, LUV and tractor driving. Our seniors study soils and pasture management.”
“Students practise throughout the year; they cover a theory paper for each task, then spend the year working towards their week at Telford.” The goal for the week is to achieve their practical credits; students are tested on their skills and prove they can achieve each task to gain their credits.
Mrs Tilly says a small but steady flow of Northland College students choose to train at Telford; she saw the week as highly beneficial, as Telford provided her students with the experience of farming on a larger scale. “Telford has a rotary shed and milks 600 —700 cows. Everything is so much bigger than what we have here. The tractors are huge.”
Spending the week at Telford also gave the students the opportunity to get out and experience another area of the country they might otherwise never see. And they made the most of their week; every year Mrs Tilly takes the students sightseeing in the evenings to well-known tourist spots, such as Nugget Point lighthouse and Purakaunui Falls.
The final night is always a trip to Dunedin. “I make them walk up Baldwin Street,” Mrs Tilly says, adding it’s always the highlight due to its international status as steepest street in the world. “… I rotate the sightseeing to keep it interesting, but we always do Baldwin Street. It’s the only one we do every year. There’s a bit of a competition among the students; they have a race.”
The overall level of care received on campus is also a new experience for them. “Hostel life at Telford is a bit different … they have their own room.” Mrs Tilly explains students are more accustomed to communal living, so having their own space happens, perhaps, for the first time at Telford. They must navigate being out of their comfort zone, away from familiar surroundings. “At home in Northland the students know everybody … they stick together like a swarm of bees when they come to Telford.”
Mrs Tilly acknowledged the whole experience of the Telford week is a high point of her year. “And the look on [the students’] faces when they pass their fencing, their driving...” The relief is unmistakeable.
Peter Barnett visited Telford for two consecutive years – Years 12 and 13 while he attended Northland College. His first impression of Telford campus was “it’s fancy”, however, it was the opportunity to immerse himself in the farming in general which helped him to choose Telford for his training.
It also provided a way to live outside the North Island and have a change of scenery. “Telford seemed like a good place, and I like dairy farming, [it’s] second nature to me, I’ve been doing it for years,” he says.
Peter spent 2025 completing the Certificate in Farming Systems (Level 3), which covers sheep, beef and dairy farming. It was the work experience placements he particularly enjoyed - "going to different farms and seeing the countryside” - and he was pleasantly surprised to discover he had a talent for handling sheep as well. As an outdoorsy person, Peter loves working on the land; his future in the agriculture sector ensures this preference. Before completing his studies, Peter had a job confirmed on a local dairy farm in the Clutha – Clinton area. “After graduating I walked straight into my job.”
Peter advised prospective students to be prepared to do the coursework which informs the practical component. “There’s paperwork; invest in pens. I don’t know how many times my pen ran out of ink halfway through an assignment.”
Telford Tutor Andrew Thompson has been assessing and marking Northland College students since the partnership began and says the students are “very keen” to get to Telford for assessment week. “Fencing is the first activity … it takes a couple of days. It’s quite physical work, and the students put in full days – you see their characters; they don’t give up,” he says.
“It’s confidence building for them being in a new situation; they’re being assessed by different tutors,” which helps the students to grow. The unit standards they gain at Telford count towards their NCEA results.
Mr Thompson says in the milking shed, the students are very competent and very much in their comfort zone. “They get the opportunity to show the skills they know. They’re proving to us and themselves they can be a success story.”
And coming to Telford helps to provide a pathway for students who may want to train there after college. “The week down here breaks the ice for them. They’re experiencing what it will be like. We’ve had [Northland students] on the Equine course, Rural Animal Technician course, Farming Systems course and the Diploma in Agriculture course.”
Mr Thompson points out another big plus is the general safety and security of Telford; students are on campus 24/7 with good accommodation, meals, laundry facilities and more – everything they need to live comfortably – as well as wraparound support from caring staff. “I think it’s a big thing for them as well. They come down, they’re rotated around farms, so that by the time they finish, they have the skills and confidence to enter the workforce.”
And although it’s a long way to travel each year, Mr Thompson thinks the partnership has stood the test of time due to the quality programmes Telford delivers. “We’re not the only choice; they have other places they can go closer to them, but they choose us.”
Over the last few years Northland College Principal, Duane Allen, and other senior management from the school have visited the students during their Telford week. “They’re always impressed,” says Mr Thompson. It’s a good partnership that provides good outcomes for the students.
Mr Thompson, who is a soils specialist, has been teaching for more than two decades at Telford. “What I love is having the opportunity to pass on the opportunities I’ve had. I enjoy passing on the skills and knowledge… We make sure the students are well set up for success.”