Students build their future – and their College

Faith Lutheran College Plainland students are taking hands-on learning to a new level, helping build the College’s Primary School alongside their Certificate studies.

The unique partnership with Hutchinsons Builders gives 13 students industry-standard site experience while creating a legacy for the College community.

The students, in Years 10 to 12, have worked between two days and a week on site while completing their Certificate II Construction Pathways or Certificate II in Electrotechnology – Career Start studies at the College.

Faith Lutheran College Plainland Vocational Education and Training Manager Tim Saal said the trial’s success paved the way for the program to continue. “Faith is undergoing a major College expansion so it can offer a full range of Prep to Year 12 classes by 2029,” Mr Saal said. “The students have worked on the construction of the Years 5 and 6 building, learning on the job about things such as site safety, time management, and practical construction techniques.

“Faith offers 14 Certificate and Diploma courses as a Registered Training Organisation, meaning students receive nationally recognised qualifications that stay with them for life. This experience has been such a bonus. Being able to literally walk to the worksite means students are also building relationships with a major industry player like Hutchies, potentially meeting their future employers and getting the satisfaction of helping grow the school around them.”

Year 10 student Cooper said seeing the experience was a chance to put learning into action. “One of the good things is seeing first-hand the different things that I’m doing. On Wednesday, I was helping install wiring and working with one of the managers, getting some materials up for the roof. That’s up now, so it’s a good feeling.”

Year 12 student Tanaishe, who is about to start his site work, said it was a way to help contribute to the school. “It actually just uplifts the school when there’s more helpers. It gives the school a good feeling, when there’s hard workers around. I’d like to get out of (the site experience) learning to be hands on and learning more critical thinking when you’re on site. There’s a lot of things going on in the site and you have to know what you need to do, what needs to be done. I’d love to learn how to be more confident when I’m on the site as well. I’m a hands-on person. I can sit and listen but hands on I learn more and it makes it easier for me.”

Hutchies contract administrator Declan Balassa said partnering with the school let the company play a part in bringing on the next generation of subcontractors.

“We are happy to bring the guys through – they’re important to our future, and this gives them a taste of what it’s like in the real world. “For Hutchies, it’s not just about finishing the project and moving on. It’s about creating those relationships with the client and the students, especially when you are doing a school project. When the students come up here we like to have a quick catch-up and see what sort of things they are interested in. If we can, we will pass them on to the electricians or the plumbers or carpenters to give them a taste of what they really want to look for after school. Our contractors are pretty competent - this is probably as real world as it gets.”