‘It takes a village’ – Wexford farming community urged to help teachers deliver farm safety education

Irish Rural link was established in 1991 to represent the interests of locally based rural groups in disadvantaged and marginalised rural areas at local, National and EU Level.

The manual, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine with additional funding from Flogas, includes information on how teachers and members of the community can work together to co-deliver the programme; ideas for topics which can be covered; tips for making the information accessible for children; and much more.

Enniscorthy based Irish Rural Link Board Member, Billy Murphy, said: "I am delighted that Irish Rural Link are working together with AgriKids in this initiative. Getting children engaged in farm safety early on can help prevent the simplest of accidents from happening on the farm. Having as many people from the community involved in educating children about the dangers on the farm will send a stronger message to the wider community also".

It is just one of several new learning supports in development under the Engage, Educate & Empower pilot, a community-led learning initiative in farm safety education. As well as the creation of the manual on community-led learning, a farm safety gaming app and a video animation to the farm safety song, When You're Working on the Farm, are also in development and due for release later this month.

The community led learning strategy has been collated with input from an advisory panel made up of members of An Garda Síochana, teachers, farmers, community development officers and farm accident survivors, all of which have been involved in or participated in farm safety events in the past.

AgriKids founder, Alma Jordan said, "When it comes to farm safety the saying 'it takes a village' is so apt. The fact is no one teacher, school or individual can deliver the farm safety message alone. We need our communities to come together to make sure that the message gets home and is relevant."

"I get so many requests to visit schools and all too often I must refuse as it's simply not possible to visit them all. By adopting a more community led approach we can not only encourage education of farm safety in schools, but also support people in the area who may be invited to schools to deliver talks and make sure they feel confident and assured while doing so," she added.

Schools who wish to find out more about AgriKids and their existing suite of supported learning programmes can do so on the official AgriKids website.