St Paul’s Collegiate School’s Construction Class is building a four bedroom, two-bathroom house under the supervision of St Paul’s builder Gavin Jakes and a number of guest builders who each donate one day per month to mentoring students.
The house will be complete by the end of Term 2 and will be used as accommodation for St Paul’s HULA programme, which provides Year 13 female students with a taste of ‘flatting life’ in preparation for when they graduate.
Students of the Construction Class work on-site for one full day each week as apprentice builders. The focus of the course is predominantly building but students can also learn plumbing, electrical work and other trades if they express an interest in these areas.
St Paul’s Collegiate School’s Teacher in Charge of Construction Iain Rudkin says this on-site experience gives students a competitive edge when graduating from school and entering the construction industry.
“Students are given thorough instruction under close supervision and work on one or two projects from start through to completion. This is a huge advantage when entering the workforce,” Mr Rudkin said.
Roughly 50 percent of last year’s Construction Class students are now working in the construction industry having landed jobs straight after graduation.
Once HULA House is complete students will begin building a hockey pavilion.
