Student Stories

Hize took Hospitality in Years 11 and 12 at school and was then given the opportunity to come to Trades Academy to complete the Level 3 Trades Hospitality programme. He says he was quite nervous when he first started the programme, as he was unsure what to expect. Now however, he’s met people from lots of different schools and is really enjoying the chance to improve his cooking skills and explore new ways of preparing food.

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Connie wanted to continue studying Hospitality in Year 13 but wasn’t able to do this at school, so enrolled in the Trades Academy programme instead. This has turned out to be a great opportunity. “The programme here is really cool. It’s all practical and hands on, and we get to work in the commercial kitchen for a full day every Friday, rather than only having a few periods throughout the week at school

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For Lucas, participating in the Manaaki Tāpoi programme has been a significant learning experience. Following in the footsteps of his older brother, Tama, Lucas has embraced the challenges presented to him on the Manaaki Tāpoi course. He says that getting to know the other students from different schools and the tutors and making these connections have been a very important aspect of the course.

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Alex is a keen hunter and being in the outdoors is a place where he feels at home. The opportunity to learn about the Police Force and Search and Rescue came up through the Uniformed Services course and Alex saw this as the perfect chance to polish up his outdoors skills and take a look at the Police Force as a career pathway.

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Bawi has always been interested in civil infrastructure and hopes to find a career in this industry when he leaves school. He really enjoys the tutor and is finding the course a lot of fun. “My English is not too good and sometimes I don’t understand some of the words in the booklets, but the tutor explains things and helps us. He’s very funny and I like the way he teaches.”

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Renee is interested in engineering but wanted something practical, so when the Civil Infrastructure programme was suggested she decided to give it go. “I really like that you can work at your own pace and that it’s not all classroom stuff. When we visit sites it’s interesting seeing how they actually do things, rather than just driving past in your car.”

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Clayton is looking at a career as a builder, so enrolling in the Building & Construction programme is a way to gain more skills and experience before he applies for a Building apprenticeship at the end of this year. “I really enjoy the freedom we have in the course to choose our own projects and work on them by ourselves. We get to use a lot more tools and machinery here than we do at school.”

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For Kristen, the highlight of the Building programme has been the freedom to design, plan and work on projects of her own choice. So far she’s made two stools, a chopping board and is currently working on a desk that she can use at home. “We have much more freedom here at NMIT – you plan your own work and decide on the projects that you want.

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Tawera’s mana statement while on the Tourism Operations course was: “the world is your oyster.” For Tawera this is always about taking every opportunity and making the most of it. “Nothing is impossible. With the right attitude and mind-set you can do anything!”

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For Ayla the highlights of the Primary Industries programme have been the hands-on, practical activities and the chance to meet students from other schools. “I’m better at practical subjects and I’m also quite sociable, so Trades really suits me. Learning how to use chainsaws has been really cool. I wasn’t very confident at first but the tutors were encouraging and helpful.”

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Hayley’s highlight in the course so far has been learning how to use chainsaws. This wasn’t something she’d done before so she was quite apprehensive about it at first. “The tutors are pretty chilled but have a lot of knowledge and experience, so this gave me the confidence to give it a go”. Hayley says she has learned a lot and is now a confident user of a chainsaw. She’s also looking forward to the next module which is all about how to use and ride ATVs safely.

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Rata enrolled in the Adventure programme at Whenua Iti because she loves Outdoor Ed, but wasn’t able to do this at her school. She really enjoys the fact that the course is so practical and that she gets to meet other students from different schools. Her highlights so far have been the caving and rock climbing weeks and the fact that all the students have to leave their phones behind!

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When Sarai’a was asked what the highlight was for her on the Adventure Tourism block course with Whenua Iti Outdoors, she was quick to say it was caving. “It was really fun”. Sarai’a also enjoyed meeting new people from other schools and the sea kayaking.

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The Automotive Trades programme has been a perfect opportunity for Raqual to add to her range of skills and experiences before she leaves school at the end of the year. “I enjoy the fact that it’s mostly practical, rather than lots of theory and I can use what I’m learning to fix my own car in the future”.

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Damon is from a family heavily involved in racing vehicles, so it was a natural progression for him to want to find out more about the automotive industry. Damon is finding the learning great at Trades Academy. A highlight for him has been to learn about calculations and compression ratios so that he can do some work on the family production vehicle at home.

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Astra is loving her Hairdressing course. She likes that it is very practical and she gets to learn different things from the usual subjects she learns at school. Her tutor is reassuring and always finds ways to make learning fun.

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Kitty’s career goal is to become a qualified Beauty Therapist so choosing the Trades Academy programme was an easy decision. The professional environment at NMIT and hands on learning suits Kitty who is taking the opportunity to learn beauty procedures whilst still attending college.

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Tia is a keen sportswoman and representative hockey player, so choosing to enrol in the Trades Sport & Exercise programme was a logical choice for her. Her commitment is obvious - she leaves Blenheim at 7am every Friday morning to take part in the Nelson-based programme, and usually doesn’t get back home until after 4.30pm.

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“Coming to Trades has been a great opportunity to learn about the whole area of beauty – from how to apply makeup to facials and nail art. I enjoy trying new things and developing my skills”.

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Trinidy has always had an interest in working with hair, initially practicing her skills on her friends and family. “I’ve always liked working on hair, and now I’m gaining the right skills to back up my interest”.

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Motu is keen to develop his engineering skills and experience, so decided to enrol for a second year in the Mechanical Engineering Trades programme. He enjoys the process of making things and the fact that he can use all the machinery in the NMIT workshop, including the lathes and welding equipment. He’s looking forward to making and racing another grass kart this year, which is one of the highlights of the programme.

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Hamish chose Mechanical Engineering as his goal is to become a fully qualified Fitter and Turner in the future. “What I like best about the course is all the practical skills you learn. Here at NMIT we get to set up and use all the machinery, which we can’t do at school.

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Libby enrolled in the Health & Support Services programme as she’s keen to study towards a nursing degree once she finishes school. Her long term goal is to work in the primary health sector as a mental health nurse.

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