Port Augusta Technical College
I travelled down to Port Augusta on the Sunday afternoon with my parents, I was very excited and nervous at the same time. What would my experience be like?
On the first day we met the media and I was interviewed, a friend showcased the VR room to the TV news team. After lunch we did a tour of the TAFE campus, the mechanics shop was highlight, a really big area with a lot of equipment. After school we had an employment skills workshop that has been ongoing, with students continuing this online. Each night we had some free time where we could do school work as well, followed by dinner, which was at the Tech College.
The white card first aid course was really valuable. We learnt how to operate on job sites, wear PPE clothing properly and basic first aid and CPR. I am not allowed to revive anyone yet until I get my ticket.
We also toured Max Cranes and Hamlet Group in Port Augusta. These were really great experiences. We learnt how cranes operate and why Hamlet is in Port Augusta, to clean up the ash from the old power station site and turn it into concrete.
The week went for five days. We would wake up at 7am, have showers in time for breakfast at 8am. Tidy up after this before meeting the local students at around 8.30 – 8.40am. At 9am we had a ‘Crew Check’, where we shared how we were feeling with the week. The day continued with three hour blocks, the first until 12 and the second from 12.30 – 3.30pm. After this we had a half hour break to get changed into comfortable clothes, followed by homework time and employment skills. Dinner followed and from there from 8.30 – 9.30 we had some leisure time.
It was a high energy week. Coming back I fell asleep in the car, and was pretty tired over the next week! Next term we return in week 7 for the possibility of machine operations which I am pretty excited about. I am really excited about what I am doing and the pathway that I am seeing getting into work.