Taranaki Futures Build a Trailer expands for 2020

After a successful 2019 pilot, the Taranaki Futures Build a Trailer programme is kicking-off again for 2020. The programme, an innovative collaboration between Taranaki Futures, Engineering Taranaki Consortium (ETC) and WITT, is available to secondary students through WITT’s Trades Academy. This year the number of student places on the programme has doubled to 15 – and includes students from eight secondary schools.

The programme, which kicked off with a student, whānau, WITT and ETC member meet event, is all about supporting young people into the prosperous engineering sector.

Taranaki Futures, a charitable organisation with a purpose to smooth the pathway from education to employment, works to meaningfully bring together industry and educators. Taranaki Futures Chair Steve Scott says “Build a Trailer is a fantastic model for developing engineering trade sector pathways, having ETC member companies support young talent in this way is a credit to their proactive workforce development planning”.

ETC Chair Paul Minchin said last year’s programme pilot delivered, with ETC member companies employing 4 of the 7 students that enrolled on the 2019 programme “students on the programme gained the right kind of skills and experience to enable them to transition into our engineering apprenticeships”.

WITT CEO John Snook agrees. And is pleased to work with Taranaki Futures and ETC to develop the innovative ‘real world’ on campus learning to meet the needs of the sector. “Building a high-end tandem trailer on campus gives students the chance to be part of an interesting project, and is an effective way to bring learning to life”.

For more information on this innovative collaboration, visit taranakifutures.org.

Pictured above from left: Nick Holloway (Excel), Jack Butler (Waitara High), Tyla Robins (NPBH) and Sarah Karlson (Steel & Tube)