We work with partners to provide and deliver world-leading learning opportunities for all Scotland’s young people aged 3 to 18 about, in and through the Scottish agricultural environment and the countryside.

RHET aims to provide the opportunity for every child in Scotland to learn about food, farming and the countryside and to create a wider understanding of the environmental, economic and social realities of rural Scotland.

This is achieved through a number of key activities:

1. Farm visits for schools
2. Classroom speaker talks by volunteer farmers
3. Providing free educational resource materials for schools
4. Outdoor education events across Scotland
5. Competitions and projects for schools
6. Training farmers and teachers in the delivery of information relating to food and farming
7. The Royal Highland Show education programme for visiting schools and Children’s Education Centre

RHET will take the following strategic actions to achieve our aim:

1. Providing and promoting opportunities for Scotland’s young learners to visit the working countryside.
2. Providing and promoting opportunities for Scotland’s young learners to engage with people who work in the countryside and agricultural industries, using a variety of settings, including online.
3. Working in partnership to provide development opportunities for teachers and volunteers; creating and sharing learning resources to support understanding of food, farming and rural issues.
4. Reviewing and continuously improving our ways of working as an organisation. Encouraging forward planning, reflecting regularly on the effectiveness of our activities, our communications systems, our policies and procedures and our support for the development of the people in our organisation.
5. Managing our resources effectively to enable us to deliver the above priorities at national and regional levels, by securing funding, recruiting and retaining volunteers, and developing partnerships.

All RHET services and resources are FREE to schools in Scotland and organised by a team of Project Coordinators and volunteer committees, representing each of the twelve RHET Countryside Initiatives throughout Scotland.

Each Coordinator works year-round to help deliver opportunities for pre-school, primary and secondary children to gain a better understanding of the Scottish countryside by providing reliable and balanced information on farming and rural issues and organising fully risk-assessed farm visits, classroom talks and a host of other competitions and events.