Usually, you have to live on a farm or come from a farming background to experience tractor driving and training at a young age, however, Countryside Learning Scotland’s (CLS) careers work with schools and access to funding is beginning to change this, opening up rural careers to all.
This week, in partnership with DYW Inverness and Central Highlands, CLS were delighted to organise a LANTRA 13–15 Years Old Tractor Driving Course for 6 pupils from S3 and S4 at Kingussie High School. The pupils, whose training costs were fully funded through the Next Generation Practical Training Fund, spent two days on the farm learning how to operate a tractor confidently and safely, strengthening their practical skills and giving them the confidence to pursue a career in the land-based sector.
The course was organised by Ellen Grant, CLS regional coordinator (Cairngorms) and Debbie Khadi, DYW school coordinator for Kingussie High School and Grantown Grammar School.
Ellen Grant, CLS added;
“The best way to see if a career is for you – is to actually ‘have a go at it’ and in a world of risk assessments and Health and Safety – this can be harder to organise than you think. The Next Generation Practical Training Fund, and our incredible rural network made this possible – and what a positive experience it has been. Getting positive feedback, indeed any feedback from young people isn’t easy but we were absolutely delighted to hear one pupil say “I’m really enjoying this. I could do this every day. This will be really useful for what I want to do when I’m older.”
Thanks to the course hosts at Balavil Farm (Kingussie) for providing the ideal venue, to Ringlink Services for their expert instruction and support over the training, and again to Balavil Farm and Robert Mackenzie of Lochbuie Croft (Newtonmore) for supplying the two tractors that made the course happen.
Instructor Eddie from Ringlink added: