A team of pupils from Beaconsfield School are set to pit their agricultural prowess against 20 other schools from around the country.
Angus Ward, Tessa Croft and Hunter Clark (The Beaconsfield Redbands) will be heading to New Plymouth early next month to compete at the AgriKids Grand Final after winning the Aorangi Regional Final earlier this year.
From July 2-4, the team will go up against the other schools in agricultural-based practical events as well as competing in an AgriQuiz with topics ranging from animals to farm processes.
They also will have to make their way through seven different 10-minute modules.
Beaconsfield principal Hamish Brown said it was the first the time a team from the school had qualified for the grand final.
“We went to Ashburton a couple years ago and finished in the top six regionally, so we didn’t quite make it. But this year we came out on top.
“The cool thing is these guys went and did the regional final before school had even started for the year. They took it on their own back and did really, really well and beat a lot of teams who had won it before.”
He said the pupils had been doing a bit of training with their parents after school and he had been trying to help them prepare with the quiz and paperwork side of the competition.
“I’ve been throwing them what I can find. They’ve been working really hard to be in the right place to do really well.
“It’s going be a big step up but the community is behind the kids and as a school it’s something we really celebrate.”
