Wangaratta District Specialist School (WDSS) students Dylan Hasson, Andrew White and Sebastion Himsley have been engaged in Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) at Merriwa’s Timber division as part of their Year 10 curriculum.
Meg Rickard is the Jobs, Skills, and Pathways Coordinator/Careers Advisor at WDSS and has said the students have thrived with this opportunity at Merriwa, “Dylan, Andrew and Seb have developed important workplace skills such as teamwork, time management, development of independence, planning and organising and more. Andrew, Dylan and Seb have grown in confidence and other students at the school look up to them.”
Dylan, Seb and Andrew are currently in Year 10 and are studying a variety of subjects from English, Maths, IT, Work Related Skills, Geography, Art and Sport.
Dylan is interested in Building and Construction, being outdoors and working on his farm in Glenrowan. He enjoys playing summer sports, especially cricket!
Seb loves cars and anything Holden – he recently got his L plates so you may see him driving around town. He enjoys playing and watching footy and in his spare time he enjoys playing xbox.
Andrew is a mad sports fan and enjoys playing hockey and recently won the coaches award for the Wangaratta Dragons men’s team! He loves playing footy at school and his favourite subject is art.
Some of the skills the students have learnt include safe practices on machinery and equipment, safe handling of timber,basic grading of hardwood timber and basic manufacturing process of laminated beams.
Andrew says he has learnt a number of new skills, “I have learnt how to operate the moulder, work with glue, understand how the machines work, how to work safely in the timber’s environment, what types of chemicals they use, what to do when things go wrong. I have learned also learnt about working in a team and working independently as well.”
Sandra Rossi, Support Officer at Merriwa Timbers has been impressed by the student’s work ethic and engagement with the team saying, “All 3 students are polite and enthusiastic to work and learn new skills. They have good communication skills, respectfully listening and following instructions, effectively working as a team. The students have demonstrated a basic knowledge of OH&S requirements and follow safety procedures and policies.”
We asked each of the students how they have enjoyed working at Merriwa and some of their highlights, with their responses below;
Seb: I have really enjoyed working at Merriwa and will continue to work there until the end of the year. The best thing is working on the moulder.
Andrew: I get to learn new skills in an environment I wouldn’t normally – the highlight for me has been working in the various parts of timbers – there are so many options for me to be involved in and have experience in.
Dylan: I love working at Merriwa, I really enjoy working with Trevor and Chris. They help me put the wood through the moulder and restack. They provide me with support and I get along with them really well. They train me to make sure I know how to operate machinery properly and safely.
Thank you to Seb, Andrew and Dylan for being a part of the Timbers team at Merriwa!
