PUPILS from Ysgol Y Bannau in Brecon joined education minister Kirsty Williams at the launch of NFU Cymru’s new science farm education packs.
The launch took place at the farm of NFU Cymru president John Davies in Merthyr Cynog on Epynt.
The bilingual teaching packs help bring children’s science lessons to life with information on animals’ life cycles and habitats, gestation periods of livestock and wildlife living in hedgerows.
At the launch, the pupils took part in activities based on the education resources. These included testing their senses with ‘What’s in the box?’ tasks, recognising the sounds from nature and the farmyard, and seeing what smells they could identify.
Mr Davies said: “Educating the next generation of consumers is an extremely important task, and these new science farm/fferm wyddoniaeth resources are about making learning fun, while teaching the younger generation about how food and the environment go hand in hand.
“The next generation consumers need the information to be able to make informed choices when in the supermarket.
“It is therefore vital that we educate children while they are young enough to make their own decisions. While educating, we are also able to teach children about farming, and there is the potential for stimulating an interest in a career in the industry, and therefore creating the next generation.
“I’d like to thank the year 1 pupils from Ysgol Y Bannau for coming to Pentre for the launch and I do hope they’ve enjoyed it.”
Education minister Ms Williams said: “These packs are an excellent idea. The sooner we can get our pupils interested in agriculture, food and the environment the better.”