Playhouse challenge beckons
Matamata College is again competing in this year’s BCITO Build-Ability Challenge.
Seven students will don hard hats and safety goggles to construct a playhouse which will then be gifted to Te Poi Playcentre.
They will be competing against 20 other secondary schools with teams of up to 10 students.
This is technology teacher Ben Allen’s first time taking part in the challenge and he said it was working out reasonably well.
He said the students were ‘‘itching to get into it’’.
The building phase of the challenge kicked off on June 6, and the playhouses must be finished by August 19, when they will be donated to local charities.
A few years ago youngsters at Matamata’s Kids Corner gained the Hobbitdesigned playhouse built by the college’s woodwork students.
This year, the students will build a wharenui, which was designed by graphic design student Keiran Holdsworth.
Allen said he was looking forward to seeing the end result as well as seeing the boys gain valuable experience.
The aim of the challenge is to help achieve the government’s goal of meeting the growing demand for apprentices, BCITO chief executive Warwick Quinn said.
‘‘The Build-Ability Challenge not only gives students the opportunity to develop new skills and experience, but it also plays an important part in encouraging students to consider the wide range of opportunities in the construction industry,’’ he said.
‘‘The challenge has a proven track record of recruiting potential apprentices into the construction industry. We have seen a number of last year’s participants move into carpentry apprenticeships which is fantastic.’’
The challenge will be judged in a twostep process, with the completed project being inspected onsite, and the design and planning being judged by a national judging panel.
The ‘‘Supreme Winners’’ will receive a $1000 voucher for their school’s technology department, with additional prizes for the ‘‘People’s Choice Award’’ and the ‘‘Best Video Entry’’.
The ‘‘People’s Choice’’ winner will be selected by the public via buildability.co.nz. The winners will be announced on September 12.