Teens Put Skills to Work on Community Construction Project

27 August 2015

Teens Put Skills to Work on Community Construction Project

Teenagers at the Wellington Trades Academy put their newly acquired construction skills to great use this week when a children’s playhouse was presented to Petone Kindergarten. The students who are dual enrolled with their secondary school and WelTec attend the Wellington Trades Academy to gain their NCEA and trades qualifications.

The 15, 16 and 17 year olds from Hutt Valley High School, Naenae College, Onslow College, Heretaunga College, Wainuiomata High School, Newlands College, Aotea College and Wellington College were encouraged by their Trades Academy tutor Brian Hill to build the playhouse and present it to the kindergarten.

Raylene Becker, Head Teacher Petone Kindergarten is thrilled with the playhouse, “This is a great project and connects everybody in the community. Here are a whole bunch of young guys who are now connected to our kindergarten.”

Tongan student Teufolau Feki is from Naenae College and is completing his level 2 NCEA this year, “I am really enjoying the opportunity to study at the Wellington Trades Academy and I plan to stick with it and study for my pre-trade carpentry qualification at WelTec next year. One day I’ll start my own construction business.”

David Hibberd who heads up the Wellington Trades Academy is proud of the students’ achievements. “Wellington has the fourth highest rate of NEETs (a young person Not in Education Employment or Training) in New Zealand (equating to more than 2100 individuals) and almost 15% of 18 year olds in this region do not have NCEA level 2. This equates to more than 800 people without a key school qualification and is way too high.

“In partnership with secondary schools our role at the Wellington Trades Academy is to provide another option for young people to achieve school and tertiary qualifications. Projects like this one for Petone Kindergarten are also a great way for our students to feel good about the skills they have acquired through the Trades Academy by giving back to their local community,” says David Hibberd.

The Wellington Trades Academy has 240 part-time places available to students across the Wellington region in 2016. Students study three days a week at their secondary school and two days at either WelTec’s Petone campus or Whitireia’s Porirua campus. Interviews for selection onto the Wellington Trades Academy programmes start in mid-October.

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