Plumbing Connection 3-2015

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PLUMBING CONNECTION SPRING 2015 77
the college for four and a half days a week for 18 months, it’s
important to get the right candidates in,” Paul says.
The 18 months of college will total 1944 hours of delivery,
broken down into 864 hours of Certificate III in Plumbing
basic theory and practical, 432 hours of Extra Intensive
Assessment, 216 hours of Catch Up Time and an additional
432 hours of Industry Training and Observation.
The cost for the college based delivery (paid by the
cadets/parents) is slightly more than the Smart & Skilled
scheduled fee for the full Certificate III Plumbing course in
NSW, but covers full tuition costs as well as the workplace
assessment process.
The Industry Training and Observation component
is designed to provide cadets with a comprehensive
understanding of the industry and the mechanics and
systems that underpin it.
“They’ll be looking at how modern technology works in
large recycled water systems like Olympic park in Sydney
and the sites controlled by Sydney Water. They’ll go to the
Rheem factory and see how hot water services are made.
This will endow them with a much broader perspective
of what industry does and what plumbing is about. It
will show them that plumbing is not just changing tap
washers. Because of this broader understanding, they’ll be
a lot more motivated to succeed in the 18 months of the
apprenticeship,” Paul says.
The key to the cadetship though, and the reason for
the allocated 216 hours of Catch Up Time, is the way it is
assessed. The Assessment Methodology is a big part of what
Paul and his team gleaned from their time in Europe and, as
Paul puts it, “introduces the word ‘fail’ to the system,” while
adhering to the maxim: he/she who trains does not assess.
Assessment is made up of four levels and culminates
in a 3-4 day holistic assessment on all five streams. If for
any reason a cadet should fail an assessment – even if
it’s something they’ve passed at a previous level – they
will be required to go back to the beginning and start the
assessment process from scratch.
“We’re making up for 18 months of practical training
the industry says should be done in the traditional
apprenticeship. We think that this will be much harder for
these kids to learn so only the cream will rise to the top. The
others are just going to have to work very hard and that’s
why the make-up time is there.”
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