Geelong High students get hands-on trade training

STUDENTS at Geelong High School are getting a head start in the trades, with new on-campus training giving them hands-on experience while still at school.

In the classroom, VCE product design and technology students are designing and building outdoor furniture for the school, with several pieces already installed around the grounds.

Year 12 student Tadhg is among those making the most of the subject, producing a mid-century modern chair that has been singled out as one of the cohort’s strongest pieces.

The task required students to design a chair inspired by Australian furniture designer Douglas Snelling, using only wood and webbing while incorporating a First Nations influence.

“A lot of people used the boomerang and they’ve put it in their chair legs, but I decided I wanted to make a roof,” Tadhg said.

“So I put the boomerang design over the head for the shade and it goes all the way down.”

Tadhg, who only took up woodworking last year, said he was surprised to see the final product match his original design.

Alongside the subject, the school has also introduced a VET carpentry and construction course in partnership with The Gordon.

Delivered on campus in upgraded workshops, the course gives students access to the same training they would receive at TAFE, without leaving school.

Product design and technology teacher Allen Gilmour said recent upgrades had brought one of the school’s workshops up to VET standard, with further improvements planned.

“This is the standard that we want to keep at Geelong High,” Gilmour said.

“It uplifts the students that are in the space and they produce great things. And that’s what we want them to do.

“We want them to design stuff for the future and not rely so much on AI and computers to do the thinking for them.”

Through the partnership with The Gordon, two groups of 15 students each use the facilities each week as part of the VET carpentry and construction course.

“It’s exactly the same as the learning they would get at TAFE, but in a school environment,” Gilmour said.

In their second year, students will take on a larger build, constructing a shed on campus.

“Then they can do framing, they can do sub-floors, all the stuff they’d do in a second year apprenticeship, on campus,” Gilmour said.

He said giving more students earlier access to VET programs helped broaden their thinking about life after school.

“We just want to instill in these students that they become lifelong learners,” Gilmour said.

“When you’ve finished your trade, maybe you want to run your own business – maybe you should go back and do business management. Maybe you should go back and learn how to do accounting.”