UCOL BLOG

This week’s Open Day at UCOL Wairarapa will have a focus on carpentry, as well as other vocational programmes available at the campus.

A kitset mini house will be amongst the activities on offer at Open Day which runs from 11 am to 1 pm on Wednesday 25 January. The materials for the five square metre house, donated to UCOL Wairarapa by timber company JNL, can be built and dismantled in less than a day and is used to teach Carpentry students.

Programme Leader Brett Tickner says anyone who wants to pick up a drill, a measuring tape or a hammer at the Open Day can lend a hand with the building.

Read More: “Building will be the biggie at UCOL Open Day”…

Some great new facilities will be ready for UCOL Wairarapa students at the start of the new study year.

Construction programmes such as carpentry and joinery will have a brand new facility to work from. Students will be able to build houses in a purpose built area on the upper campus’ Chapel Street frontage, in real, on-the-job conditions. A big new construction building will have all the equipment needed for construction activities covered in UCOL’s National Certificate in Carpentry, which offers students skills equivalent to those learned in the first year of a building apprenticeship.

The joinery programme offers foundation skills that prepare students for work within the industry. There are some free fee places available for 16 and 17 year olds who want to leave school but also gain some qualifications, as part of the Youth Guarantee Scheme.  People interested in this, and other Youth Guarantee programmes such as automotive, hairdressing, cookery, early childhood education, health science or business administration and computing, should contact Sharon Jolliffe at UCOL on 946 2300 up until 21 December and then from 9 January 2012. Programmes start in February 2012.  Read More: “New Facilities at UCOL”…

UCOL Wairarapa Sports and Exercise students went back to school recently, to teach and learn.

The nine Certificate in Exercise and Sport Performance students spent four mornings at Fernridge Primary School, supervising sports activities for 50 energetic school pupils.

UCOL Sports and Exercise lecturer Jon Bailey says the activity is a valuable part of the Certificate’s Sport Coaching module. “The students get a real life impression of the planning, preparation and patience involved in coordinating sports activities for youngsters.”

Read More: “UCOL students are good sports”…

The UCOL Wairarapa Certificate in Carpentry course is offering its skills to the kindergartens of Wairarapa.

The unusual offer also gives UCOL Wairarapa Carpentry students yet another chance to build a real-life community project.

Adopt a Kindy is the brainchild of Carpentry lecturer Pete Van der Veen and is adds to the Certificate programme’s practice of providing free labour to small community projects.
Read More: “UCOL Carpentry students Adopt a Kindy”…

For the first time, Wairarapa people have the opportunity to get a degree qualification in early childhood education with local support.

In a partnership between UCOL Wairarapa and the Open Polytechnic, the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) will be available via distance learning, with an on-campus component. Campus Principal Angela Hewitt says this will give students valuable face-to-face learning from an experienced and qualified lecturer as well as access to all UCOL Wairarapa support services.

Angela Hewitt says the mixed mode delivery gives students the best of both worlds. “It’s especially valuable for people already in early childhood education who want to upskill and improve their knowledge, salary and career prospects. This means they can complete the degree while they are still working, with the benefit of on-campus support.

Read More: “UCOL partnership contributes to quality of early childhood education in Wairarapa”…

Fifteen aspiring baking students are benefiting from a freshly risen partnership between UCOL Wairarapa and Masterton baking identity Breadcraft (Wai) Ltd.

Once a week, the Certificate in Baking and Pastry students are joined in the UCOL kitchens by Breadcraft bakers Todd Wilton and Motu Sturgeon.

Todd and Motu are recently qualified bakers who did their adult apprenticeships with Breadcraft. They are enjoying their foray into teaching on alternate Thursdays. “I produce more than 10,000 baked products at work in a normal day,” says Motu. “It is quite different to come here and focus on just a few baked goods at a time. The teaching part is a challenge but the students have a great attitude and are keen to learn.”

Todd agrees and says it is a new experience to have the students watching his every move during demonstrations.

Read More: “Breadcraft rises to UCOL challenge”…