1212
ACADEMIC
CONSTRUCTION | BUILDING OUR FUTURE Students entering their Senior Years have the option to chose from various ATAR and/or VET subjects if pursuing the mainstream academic courses. One VET subject offered here at St Peters is Construction. Not only do students learn the basics about the construction industry, they get hands-on experience using tools and acquiring skills they wouldn't otherwise learn in a classroom.
C A SSIE T WEMLOW
Communications & Marketing Officer
B
eing part of the St Peters vocational education and training (VET) subject list for the last 24 years, Construction is offered to students in Years 11 and 12 who may seek a more hands-on career. Design & Technology Teacher, Mr Scott McCarthy, has been teaching Construction at St Peters intermittently over the last 17 years. “It’s aimed at being a general introductory course to construction,” Scott explained when I spoke to him in April. “There are 11 competencies— eight core and three elective subjects —and it’s aimed at the carpentry side of the industry, with some welding and concreting,” he clarifies.
“It’s also to do with the nature of the subject,” Scott told me. Because students are regularly using machinery and tools “there needs to be less students for health and safety reasons as well.”
As part of the two-year VET course, students gain a Certificate I in Construction qualification which ‘provides an introduction to the construction industry, its culture, occupations, job Working in a team roles and workplace and showing expectations’ (www. initiative are what training.gov.au).
"
I really push on the kids because... employers are looking for someone with employability skills and is keen."
The course aims to develop competencies relevant to construction industry practices including introducing students to basic industry knowledge and skills applicable to the three sectors within the Building and Construction Industry (residential, commercial and civil). Most students elect Construction in conjunction with their other five ATAR subjects or as an alternative-type subject to balance their subject load.
Scott explained that St Peters gets both ATAR ineligible and eligible students, the latter of whom, “enjoy the freedom of a practical based course that is not as academically draining on their time,” as mainstream ATAR courses can be.
Plus Ultra | June 2022
The class sizes are on the smaller size – averaging 14 students in each Construction class – so students are offered more one-onone experience.
The course is built around a basic construction project where students cover essential work health and safety requirements, the industrial and work organisation structure, communication skills, work planning, and basic use of tools and materials. One project students work on is a child’s cubby-house. Classmates team up to see through the woodworking project from conception to completion, measuring and constructing the 4m2 weather-proof cubby. This element of “working in a team and showing initiative are what I really push on the kids because if they follow through and want to become apprentices, employers are looking for someone with employability skills and is keen,” said Scott.
