Books, tools mix through growing trades academy
Bending pipes, welding and working on a motorbike are all part of the school week for some Waikato Trades Academy students.
The academy, led by Wintec, started in 2011 with 42 students.
It now has more than ten times that and is partnered with 30 schools around the region.
Among the secondary students heading to Wintec for a day a week are a gym-mad trio from Nga Taiatea Wharekura.
Engineering students Mania Koroheke, Trazdyn Willison-Reardon and Tanara Anderson, all 17, started after a teacher's suggestion and said it makes getting up on a Friday morning easy.
They've been working on bikes through the year and are hanging out to try them.
"We wait for the last day [of course] and we have a race," Anderson said.
They're practical, six hours of gym a week kind of guys and said they had learned "heaps" in their first of two years on the course: bending pipes, welding, grinding, working with metal.
But it's not just course work they've enjoyed.
Anderson liked the more independent experience and environment, which he said prepared them for when they finish.
All three agreed the tutors were a stand-out and Willison-Reardon enjoyed getting to know them.
"They're pretty funny fullas."
"They're like friends with us," Koroheke added.
The boys' families are also impressed with the opportunity, Anderson said.
"They love it because it's helping to get us further in what we want to be."
For him, that's an aeronautical engineer, Koroheke is keen on civil engineering and Willison-Reardon wants to get into architecture.
Other year 11-13 students at the academy can dip into areas such automotive, electrical engineering, cookery or beauty therapy.
They stay at school four days a week - meaning they can keep up with study, friends, sports teams and events like the school ball - and spend one at Wintec, plus there are some block courses in holidays.
The target group is students who may feel like school's "not for them", Wintec's youth pathways manager Rachel Bowley said.
The idea is to keep students - who might otherwise drift off - engaged at school, get them NCEA level 2 and give them a head start on a career.
And it's government funded, including transport, through the Youth Guarantee initiative.
Changes can be dramatic, she said.
They've had parents in tears when their child got a top award at the end-of-year prizegiving.
And students' school attendance sometimes improves, she said.
"If they're not coming to school they can't come here... It's actually about keeping them in school."
The Waikato Trades Academy operates out of three campuses: in the city, Rotokauri and in Thames.
Now 30 schools have students involved, from Cambridge to Coromandel, Matamata and Morrinsville to Te Kuiti and Te Kauwhata.
At the end of the interview, the Nga Taiatea Wharekura trio asks to do a shout-out.
It's for tutors Paul, Graham and Darby, and Celeste from student support - "our people".
"They're the ones that helped us out the most."
Fast facts
- Two-year programme for Y11-13 students
- Students have 4 days at school, 1 at Wintec
- Part of government's Youth Guarantee initiative
- Led by Wintec
- 30 partner schools around the Waikato
