Geraldine High School Primary Industry Academy (PIA) teams took the top four places in last week’s Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand’s (FCANZ) national fencing field day competition.

The field day, part of FCANZ’s annual multi-day conference, this year held in Riwaka, included displays and demonstrations as well as the secondary schools’ competition.

Eight Year 11 and 12 PIA students entered, competing in teams of two.

Tom Lamb and Tom McKeown, Year 12 students, won first place in the faults-scored contest with 28.5 out of 180, and Angus Leary and Harry O’Connell, both Year 11, came second with 30 points.

Third were Year 11 students Harry Brown and Benaiah Courage; Maisie Hancox (Year 12) and Sam O’Connor (Year 11) came fourth.

Broad criteria in the competition to construct five-wire electric fences were speed and safety, and tension and alignment (“marked by millimetres,” says PIA head Sarah Foley-Smith), with close attention to aspects from knotting to insulator installation.

For the PIA, the event was more than a contest; it was a chance to contribute by setting up the event and coaching other schools’ participants, and to boost their industry knowledge.

Angus says, “It was really good; heaps of fun, and we learned new things.”

Sarah says, “The biggest thing was further developing social skills to talk with peers and make the students feel confident to compete.”

The FCANZ competition is also a capacity builder, helping students prepare for the 2027 Fieldays Fencing Competition and, says Sarah.

“Growing secondary schools' fencing and enthusiasm for fencing.”

Geraldine High School’s Primary Industry Academy fundraises by selling potatoes, removing fences, holding an annual hangi, and planting riparian areas. Learn more about the PIA at geraldinehs.school.nz