A gift from NorthTec Carpentry to Painting

6 June 2013

He ain’t heavy; he’s my brother – A gift from NorthTec Carpentry to Painting

When the government demanded more for less across all public sectors, education wasn’t spared and “sustainability” became the buzz word especially in the Tertiary education training sector.

NorthTec has taken heed of this and down at the Future Trades Centre on Dyer Street in Whangarei, a different kind of practical sustainability, also subscribing to the government’s push for working better and smarter with what you have, is taking place.

Recognising that their fellow students at the newly offered Certificate in Painting (Trade) (Level 2) course didn’t have the required facilities to practice and hone their skills, tutor Steve Sandford-Hill, and his National Certificate in Carpentry (Level 4) students decided to use the last semester of their 34-week course to do something about it.

“What we had was an opportunity to do some real time construction without needing to leave the workshop area. I knew this would be of great benefit to my group of students in terms of experience and it would benefit North Tec Future Trades by adding to the facilities here for the painting students,” Steve Sandford-Hill says.

“I realised that this project would add practical and technical skills that would support them in the actual work place environment which is central to NorthTec philosophy as a training organisation.

“After a brief korero and site visit, we then sourced the materials and started the project to deliver seven fully framed and lined painting bays, four with ceilings and three without.

“These painting bays or cubicles are practical work stations for the painting students to work with brush, roller, to stop nail holes, to sand to a finish suitable for priming, undercoating and finish coating. It literally gives students a painting canvas on which to practice again and again until their skills have satisfied their tutor. This gives our students a real live idea of what they may deal with in the world of painting.”

Steve says building the cubicles was a challenge for his own students and as on any construction or carpentry site the stress was to the fore and the language was best described as sometimes “colourful”.

“It would be fair to say the learning curves of each individual student rose, plateaued and rose again with the barrage of skills and information needed to complete the work being thrown at them by the truckload through the project,” he says.

“A few toys were biffed out of the cot at times when I demanded a better finished product and the odd job had to be done again, but the learning was immense and our NorthTec carpentry students showed just how well they respond to pressure.”

The work meant several power points, switches and compressed air lines had to be boxed out and architrave finished. Skirtings and cornice applied to ceiling and floor junctions and architraves applied to edges and ends.

However, the biggest initial challenge was the tapered sloping concrete floor at Future Trades which posed a tricky test to keep the frames level and the frames true and straight.

A more complex element was also added to the mix with a decision to weatherboard two end walls with a “dummy” window in each wall, was made. This gave more challenges with external finishes alongside the internal ones.

“What a fantastic effort my boys put in and what an awesome job they did rising to tasks I put in front of them” Steve says.

The team of: Tawa Te Huna, Corey Hemara, Timothy Cate, Matthew Fairbrother, James Gardiner, Lee Topia, Joseph Tsalamandris, Shayne McInnes, Torben Morrison and Pouri Cooper put in almost 700 man hours giving NorthTec a substantial saving by constructing the cubicles while at the same time providing the students a rewarding hands-on experience.

“I hope opportunities like this are present in the future for my students as I see true benefits in the type of learning environment and hope to see small cottage building in the future,” Steve says.

Picture Caption: Tutor Steve Sandford-Hill with his team of National Certificate in Carpentry (Level 4) students who built painting bays/cubicles (behind them) for their fellow students at the Future Trades complex on Dyer Street, Whangarei.

If you’re keen to take up a trade in Carpentry or Painting in the second semester starting at the end of July then contact NorthTec’s Freephone 0800162 100 or enquire through:

www.northtec.ac.nz

NorthTec is the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region's largest provider of tertiary education, with campuses and learning centres in Whangarei, Kerikeri, Rāwene, Kaikohe and Kaitaia. NorthTec also has over 60 community-based delivery points from Coatesville in rural Rodney to Ngataki in the Far North.

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