Meet Frankie, Pittwater High School’s very first baby alpaca, or cria.

The first alpaca to be born at the school, the new cria was born last week to proud mother Irish Dream, and joins the flock of five other alpacas, three miniature sheep, three Suffolk sheep and the elder statesman of the farm, Gary the 17-year-old sheep.

Agriculture teacher Tamara Cole said the students and staff were ecstatic at the new arrival.

“We are so excited. We’re so lucky to have livestock here on the northern beaches and to have a new baby is wonderful for us,” she said.

Year 11 student Ruby Jagger shared the joy and excitement.

“Frankie is amazing. She brings joy to everyone’s day,” she said.

The alpacas and woolly friends are an integral part of the school’s agriculture studies program, with Mrs Cole planning to breed more in the coming year.

“We had a visit from a stud a short time ago, so we’re expecting some more in about 11 months,” she said, noting the school would love to rehome the crias locally.

The school has had alpacas for a number of years, and they provide important learning activities for the students, such as analysing the fleece and researching potential products based on its unique properties.

“As an assessment task, the students develop a product and explain why it's best used from either a woollen fibre or alpaca fibre because these natural fibres have unique special qualities,” Mrs Cole said.

The animals in the school farm also provide important hands-on skills for the students, such as how to care for the animals, including what to feed them and how to care for them if they get sick.

Year 11 Student Emile Attewell said he loved the practical side of things in studying agriculture.

“I can take the skills home to the garden straight away or use the construction skills I learnt as we made the school farm’s planter beds,” he said.

Along with the practical skills, agriculture teaches students greater resilience as things don’t always go to plan.

“That's where agriculture is different from science, as often science experiments are almost demonstrating as they are highly controlled,” Mrs Cole said

“Whereas in agriculture, because we're dealing with actual growing things, the unexpected can happen. For example, we planted a sunflower density experiment three times because something kept eating our baby plants.

“The benefit is that it teaches students persistence and also being able to think through when we need to change things up.”