On Friday 5 May, Mr Austin’s Year 10 Woodwork class built a hexagonal seat around a tree near the Yarning Circle with Joey and Mick from Construction Trade Qualifications. They taught us many things about trades and apprentices, mainly focusing on the carpentry trade and the pathways that can come from it.

After speaking with us we started to get hands on by building the seat around the Shire Oak tree at the Yarning Circle, this process took us the whole day but was a good learning experience for all of us as it gave us a taste into the future.

The process of making the deck started by digging holes around the tree and planting posts into the ground. We had to make sure they were level and plumb before we filled them with concrete and started on connecting the outside supports. Once that was completed, we started work on the inside support then on the decking itself. After completion we had another chat with Joey and Mick about apprenticeships where they answered any other questions we had.

Overall, it was a great experience and I feel we should get people from other professions to come in and teach us their skills.

Samuel Tracey
Year 10