A group of 12 St Peter’s College students will trade their calculators for toolbelts to build a two-bedroom house from scratch on the school grounds this year.
The course will be taught by new teacher Duncan McAllister, who recently changed career after decades as a builder to become an educator.
It was an easy choice for the former tradie, who said he always enjoyed training apprentices and found helping out on the Gateway programmes, which offer students a day a week on site doing trades, a rewarding experience.
Mr McAllister said the course
was a great opportunity for students to get some real-world experience without locking themselves into a career.
"It’s the best of both worlds.
"The kids will get an understanding of the trade, and even if they don’t want to be builders it just gives them a good idea of the practical skills.
"They can go away with a basic understanding of handyman stuff, they’re more of an asset to their families, to themselves, have skills they can hopefully keep for life," he said.
St Peter’s College principal Kieran Udy said the school was very fortunate to have Mr McAllister on staff, having first brought him on as a teacher aide before offering him a fulltime position.
"He was good, really great with the kids — and [has] a heap of industry experience and knowledge.
"Being able to take a course like this, with real-world teaching and experience and develop it alongside the academic pathway, we thought it was a great opportunity we shouldn’t forego," he said.
For Mr Udy it was about providing a balance to the school’s curriculum.
"They’ll learn great skills for the future, and who knows what they’ll do?
"They might go run a store, go into the trades, they might start out with the idea of building and end up a plasterer.
"They’ll pick up work-ready skills for their own home, to fix things, all valuable learning, with credits along the way," he said.
The small class size was designed to maximise learning and engagement but also to reduce the potential risk, although Mr Udy said the school was committed to the programme and could see it expanding in future.
The plan was to auction the house once it was completed to fund the course, Mr Udy said.
