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Scottish Venison gears up on education front

With Scottish Venison Day on 4 September fast approaching Scottish Venison is launching a pack of materials that will support activity in the classroom in a bid to provide youngsters with greater understanding about this natural, sustainable and home-grown food source.

The materials include (for students) recipe cards and deer species information sheets and (for staff) risk assessment and check list proforma for estate visits, and themes for in classroom or ‘outward bound’ type projects.  These are available on the Scottish Venison website www.scottish-venison.com  with the recipe cards and species information sheets also available in print.   These are being distributed to ‘venison schools ambassadors’ across the country.

The school package also includes the link to the Scotland: The Big Picture film, The Value of Venison launched earlier this summer as part of their Fiadh Project so that schools can also show this in the classroom or that interested students will view it to learn more about deer, deer management, and venison.

Schools’ activity on the venison front to date is widespread and pioneered by projects such as Hill to Grill with Glenurquhart High School and the Wild Cooks Project at Aboyne Academy.  Other engagement with schools has taken place in Argyll, Perthshire, Fife, the central belt and the Scottish Borders, and Aberdeen.

Richard Cooke, Chair of Scottish Venison, says:

“There is considerable activity already taking place in our schools around educating youngsters about venison.  Much of this happens independently with a number of processors, small and large, and estates actively engaging with schools and encouraging some level of in-classroom and often outdoor activity too onto the curriculum.

“This is an important part of our ongoing strategy for Scottish venison to 2030 and we are grateful for the funding from Scottish Government that has enabled this suite of materials that we hope will be widely used in schools across Scotland to be produced.

“We must recognise too the work done by the Soil Association, BASC Scotland, NatureScot and other organisations and individuals who are taking the venison message into schools.”

Linzi Seivwright of Findhorn Venison, a member of Scottish Venison’s Executive Committee, and who has championed the Hill to Grill project for several years says:

“At it’s very simplest, our Hill to Grill project and many other initiatives like it, provide multiple valuable opportunities for young people to build connections: with food, with the rural environment and with their local community.

“Through the venison story we can introduce young people to the concept of locally sourced, sustainable, healthy food and help them develop important life-skills using venison to make simple, nutritious and delicious meals.

“We can use the venison story to connect young people to nature and the outdoors by teaching them about deer and their place in the wider natural environment on their doorstep whilst at the same time linking into lots of areas of the curriculum from biology to business studies for example.

“Through Hill to Grill we are able to introduce young people to those living and working in their local community as well as to the broad range of jobs and careers that are available to them – from those working in deer management and land management – stalkers, rangers, foresters, ecologists – right through to related rural businesses, working in tourism and hospitality, wildlife guiding, photography, chefs and so on.”

Richard Cooke says:

“The themes of deer and venison can be a rich source of activity and learning for students and several successful collaborative programmes are already in place between schools, estates, land managers, venison processors, NGOs and others.  Where schools are interested then Scottish Venison will do its best to support them to develop activities and initiatives and potentially facilitate the involvement of other partners such as deer managers, producers or processors.”

Schools interested in what Scottish Venison may be able to offer in terms of materials and support should contact mail@scottish-venison.com or see the education resources pages on the website www.scottish-venison.com

Scottish Venison gears up on education front

With Scottish Venison Day on 4 September fast approaching Scottish Venison is launching a pack of materials that will support activity in the classroom in a bid to provide youngsters with greater understanding about this natural, sustainable and home-grown food source.

The materials include (for students) recipe cards and deer species information sheets and (for staff) risk assessment and check list proforma for estate visits, and themes for in classroom or ‘outward bound’ type projects.  These are available on the Scottish Venison website www.scottish-venison.com  with the recipe cards and species information sheets also available in print.   These are being distributed to ‘venison schools ambassadors’ across the country.

The school package also includes the link to the Scotland: The Big Picture film, The Value of Venison launched earlier this summer as part of their Fiadh Project so that schools can also show this in the classroom or that interested students will view it to learn more about deer, deer management, and venison.

Schools’ activity on the venison front to date is widespread and pioneered by projects such as Hill to Grill with Glenurquhart High School and the Wild Cooks Project at Aboyne Academy.  Other engagement with schools has taken place in Argyll, Perthshire, Fife, the central belt and the Scottish Borders, and Aberdeen.

Richard Cooke, Chair of Scottish Venison, says:

“There is considerable activity already taking place in our schools around educating youngsters about venison.  Much of this happens independently with a number of processors, small and large, and estates actively engaging with schools and encouraging some level of in-classroom and often outdoor activity too onto the curriculum.

“This is an important part of our ongoing strategy for Scottish venison to 2030 and we are grateful for the funding from Scottish Government that has enabled this suite of materials that we hope will be widely used in schools across Scotland to be produced.

“We must recognise too the work done by the Soil Association, BASC Scotland, NatureScot and other organisations and individuals who are taking the venison message into schools.”

Linzi Seivwright of Findhorn Venison, a member of Scottish Venison’s Executive Committee, and who has championed the Hill to Grill project for several years says:

“At it’s very simplest, our Hill to Grill project and many other initiatives like it, provide multiple valuable opportunities for young people to build connections: with food, with the rural environment and with their local community.

“Through the venison story we can introduce young people to the concept of locally sourced, sustainable, healthy food and help them develop important life-skills using venison to make simple, nutritious and delicious meals.

“We can use the venison story to connect young people to nature and the outdoors by teaching them about deer and their place in the wider natural environment on their doorstep whilst at the same time linking into lots of areas of the curriculum from biology to business studies for example.

“Through Hill to Grill we are able to introduce young people to those living and working in their local community as well as to the broad range of jobs and careers that are available to them – from those working in deer management and land management – stalkers, rangers, foresters, ecologists – right through to related rural businesses, working in tourism and hospitality, wildlife guiding, photography, chefs and so on.”

Richard Cooke says:

“The themes of deer and venison can be a rich source of activity and learning for students and several successful collaborative programmes are already in place between schools, estates, land managers, venison processors, NGOs and others.  Where schools are interested then Scottish Venison will do its best to support them to develop activities and initiatives and potentially facilitate the involvement of other partners such as deer managers, producers or processors.”

Schools interested in what Scottish Venison may be able to offer in terms of materials and support should contact mail@scottish-venison.com or see the education resources pages on the website www.scottish-venison.com