Harvey Allen and David
McCord (back row) with Wim and Carla
Verbane and family during their visit to
Greenmount Campus.
A HILLSBOROUGH student met the family he
lived with during a stay in New Zealand at Greenmount recently.
David McCord spent eight months on Wim and
Carla Verbane's farm after completing his National Diploma in
Agriculture at Greenmount in 2003.
On returning from New Zealand David took up a
full time post in the dairy unit at the Agri-Food and
Biosciences Institute (AFBI)
National and Higher National Diploma courses
in Agriculture at the Greenmount Campus of the College of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), include one
year's work experience.
Wim and Carla from Ashburton on the South
Island, New Zealand manage a herd of 1240 cows on 322 hectares
at Quintag Holdings Ltd. They take students on work experience
from all over the world and have accommodated Greenmount
students for the last ten years.
Wim says Greenmount students have a very
positive attitude to work and he 'would rate them among the best
they have had'.
The work experience gives students a real
experience in the commercial world and is a most valuable part
of their course.
Students on the National Diploma (NDA) course
are normally 17 years old while Higher National Diploma (HND)
students are a little older. The HND course requires students to
spend at least three months of their work experience on an
industry placement, a milk processor or a commercial farm.
Students also spend a year working overseas after they have
completed their course at CAFRE.
For more information on diploma courses or
other courses at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Enterprise visit its website at
www.cafre.ac.uk,
or use the freephone number 080 0028 4291
