Sarah spent 15 years as a primary school teacher before stepping onto a cattle farm, and she never expected it to feel so familiar.
“I realised pretty quickly that a farm teaches everything I used to struggle to explain in a classroom,” she laughs.
Sarah married into a farming family and learned the industry from the ground up. At first, she felt out of place. “I knew how to manage 28 kids, but not 28 head of cattle.”
Patient mentors made the difference. They showed her how to move stock safely, how to understand seasonal pressures, and how farming is really about people as much as animals.
What surprised her most was how much teaching and farming overlap. Planning. Observation. Clear communication. Adjusting when things don’t go to plan.
“On the farm, kids learn without realising they’re learning. That’s the magic.”
Sarah now champions on-farm education because she’s seen how students who struggle indoors thrive outdoors. “Some kids finally feel smart out here.”
Her favourite saying? “You can’t rush learning, whether it’s a child or a cow.”
