Initiative helps to prepare students for rural life Agriculture ITO has led the development of a new curriculum support programme for secondary schools, designed to help prepare students to work in the rural sector. Rural Source - a pan-industry initiative developed by the Agriculture and Horticulture ITOs - launched this month with three resources for secondary agriculture and horticulture teachers. An online reference library (www.ruralsource.ac.nz) provides a fast and easy reference of books, videos, DVDs and websites that have been recommended for various curriculum topics by agriculture and horticulture teachers throughout the country. A classroom DVD library features a compilation of favourite educational videos, with subjects indexed for fast playback. Topics featured include Soils and Fertilisers, Animal Health, Farming Skills and Marketing. Grit is a new fast-paced, fun and challenging board game that tests students' knowledge of the rural sector and the farm management decisions they make. Schools will be sent a complimentary copy of the board game and can order additional copies as they need. Rural Source was developed with teachers' needs in mind, and Agriculture ITO worked closely with an advisory panel of secondary teachers to ensure the programme's content would be relevant for today's learning environment.