“I wake up at 7:00am to 7:30am on a normal school day, then I go and brush my teeth. After that I eat some breakfast which usually consists of eggs on toast. I leave the house around 8:15-8:25 and arrive at school between 8:35 and 8:40. When I’m at school I do fun activities and work, and I go home at 3:15 when school ends.
The PreCAL experience that I have had so far, I would recommend to anyone looking to do a trade. It gives you a head start on your apprenticeship and you get some good connections for the future. You learn good and new skills every day. I have developed many skills. I have learnt how to solder, use the drill press with precision and how to help others effectively, just to name a few. PreCAL will help you develop and learn all of the skills that you will need in the future. I have had the opportunity to go to TAFE and learn further skills in specific trades and skills. Also, I have gone to work experience so that I can get a feel of the work environment. It has been extremely enjoyable as I have made some new mates and had a lot of fun on the journey so far. I hope that it continues like this. PreCAL isn’t for everyone, but if you are looking to do a trade it helps out a lot. If you are in this category, I would highly recommend it.”
Luca Tighello
“Life as a PreCAL student is good in many ways. We are able to do fun assignments & projects that require hands on work, such as making stools, Solar panel cars, hydro dipping pots and planting flowers & vegetables in the garden. We do fun activities in Maths like data graphing, and are able to go outside to do fun sports activities. In English we developed our knowledge of the World War II by doing lots of activities that are related to the war, and watching documentaries and movies about it that helped us in many ways.
PreCAL is a good pathway for those who would like hands on work. There are Design and Technology and PreCAL Applied Learning projects. During our class there are lots of activities and outcomes that we have to solve as a class or individually when working on a project. By choosing PreCAL you can develop the skills of problem solving, team work, communication, planning and organising skills, and much more. PreCAL is a very good pathway for those who are wanting to find a part time job or a trade job.”
Joshua Perera
“What’s it like being a PreCAL student? Well, you start the day like any other student. You wake up and go to school, and you start at 8:40am and go to your classroom. The PreCAL class schedule is different to mainstream classes. They both have topics like Maths and English, but PreCAL has special classes like Applied Learning and Living Skills. Each class in PreCAL entails all new things. Because of the more hands on learning of PreCAL, you get to do more working with your hands and you get special interesting tasks for each class. Some of the things you get to experience in PreCAL are the unique assignments that normally involve things like building and creating, which lets you be more creative and open minded. Through PreCAL you are also involved in TAFE, which is a school you go to once a week to learn a trade. You spend the day at the TAFE institute learning about certain tasks. For example, we did a unit on mechanics where we learnt how to do many things such as how to take apart engines, change tyres and many other things. The unit helped us to broaden our knowledge on tools and give us a taste of what trades are really like. Another thing you do in PreCAL is work experience, where you spend a day a week for a semester going to a place where you work. This helps you experience all the different fields of work and helps you get a better understanding of what you’re good at and what skills you excel at. PreCAL also has a camp where you do community projects and help expand something within the Safety Beach community every year. If you’re a high school student trying to figure out what you want to do, PreCAL is a great option for those boys who like more hands on work and education.”
Beau McCallum
Our PreCAL students at the Shrine of Remembrance earlier this year.
