Rural Skills at Wallace Hall Academy

Rural Skills is a subject that includes a mixture of practical activities which take place on local farms combined with a range of agricultural based employability visits to places such a Wallets Marts in Castle Douglas, John G Renicks, Family Butchers, Thornhill, Border Meats in Lockerbie and the Royal Highland Show. A new visit for this year will be to Dumfries House where pupils will get a tour of their rare breeds farm. The Rural Skills course also includes a cookery lesson in our Pegasus kitchen with Tom Kirkpatrick, Chef with Quality Meat Scotland.

Choosing Rural Skills is a great option for pupils interested in a career in the agricultural industry or for those who just want to learn a bit more about how their food is produced and where it comes from. You get the chance to learn in outwith the classroom environment and get a taste of the day-to-day life of a career in agriculture.

We have had a number of successful farm visits this term including a trip to meet with Andrew McKinley at Rosehill Farm where one group had the chance to handle calves and learn about cattle breeding and dairy herd management. The class also visited Mr Young’s farm at Waterside Mains where they investigated Maize crop production. This year we welcome Richard Colley, Mitchellslacks, as one of our new partner farmers and we are looking forward to our first visit to his farm later this session.

A huge thank you to all of our partner farmers and agricultural business people who take time out from their busy schedules to bring our Rural Skills experience alive.