Agricultural
10 June, 2022
Genius Hour at St Patrick’s School
To have a voice and to drive their own learning is at the heart of student engagement at St Patrick’s School. ‘Genius Hour’ is a concept that has been developed by classroom teacher Ms Donnelly that provides all students with an avenue to explore their own interests.

To further deepen their learning as part of Glengallan’s Genius Hour, Year 6 students Jonte and Eddison under the supervision of school staff, visited Toni and Michael Dwan’s Elwanvale Limousins and Stockhorses property on the outskirts of Allora. ‘Genuis Hour’ is all about the provision of opportunities for students to engage in relevant learning as both Jonte and Eddison are interested in learning about how to reduce and manage cattle stress when working in the yards.
Toni Dwan breeds about 200 surrogate bulls a year and strongly believed that one of the biggest tips she could give was keeping cattle calm, which was our main goal for the visit. Some ideas Toni had for keeping cattle calm was the need to be gentle, do not make your yards go straight under a roof because the cattle may think it is a bear cave and lastly, let them move at their speed not yours. I felt it was really great to be learning about cattle as Jonte and I would like to be cattlemen when we leave school. (Eddison and Jonte – Year 6)