Trades students building brighter futures at Tongariro School

Tongariro School Trades Academy director George Jensen at a table and shelter built by the school's Trades Academy students. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

Not every kid is cut out for the bookwork of school, especially once they are at the senior level.

So 23 Tongariro School year 11, 12 and 13 students have been finding success at the school's Trades Academy where they learn everything from agriculture to building and automotive skills.

The students do a mixture of theory, practical and work placements with local employers, and work towards level 2 NCEA credits.

Two students have already found work as a result. Jake Caldwell was offered a mechanical apprenticeship and Conrad Te Hau has taken up a job with a local builder.

Next year, 10 of the students doing construction are moving on to study construction at Toi Ohomai where their main project will be building a three-bedroom house under the guidance of tutor Alistair Penrose. A further two will be studying automotive engineering at Toi Ohomai. The rest have either already left school or are returning next year.

Tongariro School students at work on a construction project. Photo / Supplied

Construction and Automotive Trades Academy director George Jensen says for most of the students moving to Toi Ohomai, the hurdle is getting to Taupō, so a bus is put on from Tūrangi each day to provide guaranteed transport to their classes.

During the 12 months the students spend at polytechnic their tutor will help them look for employment as apprentices and they can also branch into other trades in the construction industry.

As part of their Trades Academy studies the students all get their site management ticket which allows them to go onto any site in New Zealand and work on it safely.

As well as trades, students can also study agriculture. During the year the students have done work experience on local farms where possible, although Primary ITO (agriculture) Academy director Sharlyn Holt says disruption caused by Covid-19 has made it more difficult this year to secure work placements than usual.

She says the mixture of practical skills, work placements and theory at the school's academies makes the students more engaged and keen to do the work. The students can try various types of work, local employers can give a youngster a try without having to employ them, and the work placements teach the students valuable skills for working life.

"You've got to turn up on time and be used to taking instructions," Sharlyn says. "We have them for two years with the hope that they either do further study or general employment in the industry."

The work placements are on farm if a situation can be found otherwise anything within the local trades industry will be taken.

Trades Academcy students gained NCEA credits for building and installing a wash stand at a local urupa. Photo / Supplied

The construction students have worked on a range of projects that have benefited the local community. George Jensen says this year students made furniture from pallets which got them used to using hammers, saws and other tools, something a lot of them couldn't do at first. Mud kitchens for early childhood education centres have been another project.

The students moved on to constructing four wooden stands with plastic tanks on them, donated to local urupa. Rainwater collected from the roof runs into the plastic tanks for urupa visitors to wash their hands as they leave. Not only did the students build the stands but they also gained extra NCEA credits when they installed them at the urupa, digging post holes and concreting the stands in place. The students also made an outdoor shower from plastic 500-litre containers for a local marae as an experimental project.

Constructing sleepouts and sheds also earned the students up to 20 credits each. When finished, the small buildings will be fully insulated and include power points and lights, with corrugated iron cladding. A ranch slider will be fitted to the sleepouts. They are still incomplete but have been pre-sold and George says next year's students will finish them off.

The Trades Academy works in partnership with Te Wananga o Aotearoa. George oversees the instruction of the practical components of the course and the wananga provides the theory work, assignments and moderation. Staff from the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation visit the school every term to assess the students' progress.

Tongariro School Trades students even used leftover wood scraps to create artworks. Photo / Supplied

Other skills the students have learned over the year include a chainsaw course. Logs donated by Korohe Marae were cut into firewood to be given to local kaumatua and older people in the community. Students who completed a chainsaw course with an instructor cut up the logs, earning credits in the process and learning not just work skills but also the ethics of contributing to their community.

It hasn't just been all about hammers and nails. Students began learning the art of fly-fishing with Doug Stevens of fishing website nzfishing.com and about environmental protection, looking after the Tongariro River, trapping pests and visiting the Tongariro National Trout Centre. Several of the students have also been learning to drive in partnership with Tūrangi Blue Light.