If the number of students being offered apprenticeships is an indication of the success of the new Engineering Studies course, then CBC Fremantle has a lot to boast about.  

Around 40 per cent of the school’s engineering students have been offered apprenticeships this year, and students say the practical and theoretical grounding they learn in the course makes them marketable to prospective employers.

Teacher Steve Coggin said the new Engineering Studies course gives students an opportunity to learn the physics of motion, in a practical sense.

“The course is not just about making things, although it’s fair to say that engines have universal appeal to 16 and 17 year-old boys,” Mr Coggin said.

“Our students have gained skills in machining, fitting and using computer aided drawing programs,” he said.  

“Value-added knowledge has included examining the environmental issues of powering engines; for example, our students explored the use of alternative fuels.

“All the boys have had a positive experience in the course, whether they have been university or TAFE-bound or headed straight to industry.

“Students have also acknowledged the importance of the high-end physics in the course, because they understand its importance in engineering.

“Many of these students would have studied metalwork in previous years. Studying this course gives them an opportunity to sit the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) exam and use their results towards university and TAFE entry.”

Mr Coggin said that over the next 18 months, the school will be integrating TAFE competencies (Certificate I and II) in the Engineering Studies course.

CBC Fremantle has around 40 senior school students enrolled in Engineering Studies this year, and enrolments are expected to increase next year. So far this year, 16 students have either left school to take up an apprenticeship, or have an apprenticeship lined up for the end of the year.

Apprenticeships include engineering apprenticeships in shipbuilding, general workshop or electronics.

Mr Coggin said there is a lot of scope to use the Engineering Studies course as a stepping stone to study engineering at university, a related course at TAFE or to get an industry placement.

“In contrast, the previous, related course led only to TAFE or industry. The new course will be even stronger once it has been accepted by the wider community,” he said.

“The immediate challenge for the Curriculum Council is to sort out the exam structure.”

Year 12 student Richard Acquado said choosing the Engineering Studies course was a natural progression after studying metalwork and technical graphics in lower high school.

Richard said the first term project involved designing an articulated vehicle and the challenge he added to the task was changing its design.

He plans to study architecture or drafting next year and is confident the skills he has learned in Engineering Studies will help him with his ongoing studies.

Year 11 student Blade Winmar said the best part of the course was using tools and machinery to make things.

He said he could, however, see the importance of the theoretical part of the course.

“I am doing a work placement one day a week for a cabinetmaker for a boat building company, and I have been offered an apprenticeship with the company at the end of the year,” Blade said.

“The practical side of the course has helped me with my maths studies, even just by converting imperial to metric measurements in woodwork.”

The Curriculum Council’s course project officer for Engineering Studies, Andy Briggs, said the work completed by CBC students is of an exemplary quality and a credit to the school.

“In particular, the acrylic engine showed particular inventiveness and flair, as parts were computer numerical control (CNC) machined on a CNC milling machine,” Mr Briggs said.