Agriculture
Sydney Royal Easter Show
Just before the end of Term 1 MCC had two students represent this region in the State Junior Judging Final for dairy cattle at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Maggie Kemp ( Yr 11) and Molly Klasen (Yr 9) both competed at the Regional Final to gain 1st and 2nd place giving them the chance to compete at the State Final. Both represented the school and region in an exemplary fashion, and looked great in their MCC blazers for the event .
Gunnedah Show
On the last day of Term 1 the MCC Livestock Judging team headed off to Gunnedah for their annual show. Students competed in two events, the Young Judges Competition and the Junior Beef Cattle Competition.
The Young Judges Competition saw students judge Poultry ( layer hens, game poultry and ducks), Sheep ( breeding ewes and rams) and Fleece. The show had record entries for the youth competition this year with a number of local and regional schools attending from as far away as St Catherines - Singleton. In all, over 300 students took part in one or both competitions.
The entire MCC team was a credit to the school and ranked highly in many of the sections. Three students made it into the final for the Beef Cattle Judging competition - Molly Klasen (Yr 9), Sophie Morgan ( Yr 9) and Bronte Macpherson ( Yr 9). In the final they had to take part in verbal judging. They spoke to the group and the overjudge ( Mitch Taylor) giving an appreciation of how and why they placed their cattle in the order they did. All three MCC students spoke very well and should be proud of their efforts - encouraged and cheered on by the rest of the team.
Molly Klasen went on to win the 14-16 years section based on her placings and was awarded Reserved Champion over all Highpoint Judge of the competition.
On top of this win Molly also had a successful day on the Saturday with her own Poll Hereford heifer which she has broken in to lead herself and show on the local circuit. Molly also competed in the Junior Paraders competition and was awarded Reserve Champion Parader from not only a large class for her age, but against all other age winners.
MCC Sheep
The Stage 5 ( Yr9/10) Agriculture Now students are currently learning to handle and teach the sheep to lead. Last year we had a significant increase in our flock with a successful lambing period. We plan to keep the ewe lambs and sell the wether lambs shortly.
The ewe lambs have all been buddied up with a group of students for this learning process.
The students have been thoroughly enjoying this unit of practical work and along the way they have learnt a great deal about not only their sheep but also themselves, including team work, empathy, patience and confidence in themselves and their ability to reach goals.
Kylie Bailey
Ag Teacher