The course will be taught by new teacher Duncan McAllister, who changed up his career path from multiple decades of building to become a teacher.
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 one day a week on site doing trades, a rewarding experience.
Mr McAllister will be running the class now through St Peter’s, taking on 12 students who will build a real two-bedroom house out the back of the school, from start to finish.
With the school year now under way, the course was a great opportunity for students to get their tool belts on and get some real-world experience without locking themselves into a career, Mr McAllister said.
"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 they were very fortunate to have Mr McAllister on the staff, having first hade him on board as a teachers’ aide before offering the fulltime position.
"He was good, really great with the kids, and 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, with academics being mixed in with the practical, and said there was a massive amount of potential with the course.
"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 the future.
