High school's trades academy programme expanding

November 28th, 2014
[by David Armstrong]

Motueka High School's flagship Trades Academy programme will be expanded next year to add an academy for Construction and Related Trades.

The local primary industry programme, one of eight Primary Industry Trades Academies in the country, has been quietly running over the past two years, and Principal Scott Haines admits it is now considered the "flagship" of the initiative throughout New Zealand.

He says the Ministry of Education is now looking at it as a model for how such academies should be built and run.

He agrees with Motueka Online that it is something that the Motueka community can be proud of, but so far there has been little publicity. "We just get on with it," she says. "If it works, people will talk about it."

Academy students learning first-hand at the
Koko Horticulture packing shed

The current Primary Industry Trades Academy is a three-way partnership between the school, local employers and primary industry training organisations (ITOs).

Locally the primary industries involved are the four Fs which underlie our economy - forestry, farming, fruit and fishing.

Next year the Construction and Related Trades Academy will add courses in building, plumbing, electrical, painting, joinery and other similar trades.

Students are interviewed for selection into the academy programme, with courses beginning in Year 11. During that year students are in school for four days a week and spend one day a week in industry visits, gaining an overall view of the various parts of the whole industry.

In the classroom they do standard NCEA subjects run by school teachers, plus the theory portions of National Certificates in the trades, sometimes provided by staff or contractors of external ITOs.

Things step up in Year 12 when students select which primary industry they wish to specialise in. Again they spend most of their time at school but do actual work placements one day a week. Their curriculum is provided by industry and is based on their National trade certificate.

The final year is very specialised and only some students take it that far. It is carried out mainly in the field but partly still in school, the goal being a final assessment for their full National Certificate.

This year just ending, 24 students were in the academy in Years 11 and 12. At present three of them will continue into Year 13. In 2015 a present list of 21 students will be interviewed and considered for entry at Year 11.

Scott says the academy system offers huge advantages for the students, employers, the school and the town. It gets more young people into meaningful local industries, keeping them in the region. It provides a mechanism for having new employees work-ready and already trained in the theory of such things as farm-management.

It gives students a broader view of what they could do so they can start a career before starting work. And they can get employment close to home, find a suitable boss and work team, while still achieving NCEA and National Certificates.

For the school, it makes more motivated students who love what they're doing, and links their education with real jobs. They also learn important skills like turning up to work on time and bringing the right equipment with them.

Preparation for the Construction and Related Trades Academy has taken a couple of years, establishing the curriculum and getting partnering employers onto the team.

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