Programme to bring farm safety to primary schools across Ireland
Irish Rural Link is calling on primary schools to sign up for the AgriKids Farm Safety Ambassador School Programme.
This programme follows the successful pilot of the initiative in late 2025.
Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the nationwide programme will provide teachers and their pupils with farm safety resources that support the curriculum and champion a community-led approach to farm safety education and practice.
As part of the programme, teachers are encouraged to reach out to local farmers, vets, first responders and other agricultural representatives to deliver in-school talks and demonstrations.
Best practice
Speaking about the programme, Minister of State with special responsibility for farm safety, Michael Healy-Rae said: "A farm is a wonderful place to rear a family, but safety must always be the priority.
"Building on the success of this programme in 2025, I am confident that this training will help foster an awareness of farm safety from a young age which can become instinctive.
"I am reminding parents that they play a key role in developing the learnings by adopting best practice when it comes to farm safety and encouraging children by showing good example."
Farm safety programme
Schools will be given the option to choose between two programme approaches, the succinct AgriKids Farm Safety Hour or the AgriKids Farm Safety Day.
The Farm Safety Hour offers a concise, introductory framework for farm safety, covering specific topics supported by resources available on the AgriKids website.
Alternatively, schools can run a Farm Safety Day, choosing one of three themes: farm and field safety; tractor and machinery safety; or animal safety and wellbeing.
On completion of each, a school will earn a themed pennant. Once all three are collected, the school will earn a Farm Safety Ambassador Flag.
Farm safety
Irish Rural Link CEO Seamus Boland said: "Ireland is an agricultural country, and the reality is that farming activities have cost lives and resulted in serious injuries.
"That is why it is so important that we bring this message straight to classrooms and to the wider community, so that together we are more inclined to automatically think about farm safety and becoming instinctively safer as a result."
Programme manager, Alma Jordan, is encouraging schools to take part.
“We want to help our educators make time for farm safety, keeping the subject real and relevant for students and teachers," Jordan said.
"Being aware of existing curriculum commitments, these programmes are designed looking at teacher’s time allocation, aiming to make a serious message fun, and to include the wider community."
Awards
Schools that choose to run a Farm Safety Day are also eligible for the AgriKids Farm Safety Ambassador Awards.
These awards celebrate schools who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and initiative in farm safety education, offering the opportunity to be awarded cash prizes that will be invested into current and future school farm safety initiatives.
The categories include best farm safety ambassador and best learning initiatives, for which nominations are sought for from schools, while best class and best school are selected from the submissions.
Carrigduff National School in Bunclody, Co. Wexford won the best school award for the 2025 pilot of the programme.
Schools can sign up to participate in the programme ahead of the closing date on April 17, 2026.
For eligible schools that take part in the programme, award nominations open on March 17 and close on May 31, 2026, with winners announced in June.
