Two days a week, year 12 student Lavena Yaqo’s alarm blares at 6am for work. She pulls on her boots and safety clothes, jumps on the bus and clocks on for her shift while many of her classmates are still waking up. Lavena, 17, is doing a school-based apprenticeship as part of the new VCE Vocational Major (VM), and is fast learning the ropes of metal fabrication.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, she feels like a real metalworker. Lavena Yaqo is juggling year 12 studies with a metalwork apprenticeship. “I enjoy it, it’s a different job every day,” she says.
“It was hard at first because of the early wake-up. I have to start at 7am. I was always tired, but then I got used to it.
There’s always something to do and if anything feels hard, people are always happy to help.” Lavena is incorporating a Certificate III in engineering into her senior year studies, and getting a taste of work life at the Vehicle Development Corporation in Coolaroo. For the remainder of the week, she splits her days between on-campus studies at TAFE and year 12 classes at Roxburgh College.
She’s proof that learning can take many paths, weaving between school, on-the-job training and vocational training institutions – even in high school. Lavena Yaqo attends Roxburgh College. Lavena says she’s always had a passion for metal fabrication and is helping to convert left-hand-drive trucks to right-hand-drive.
“When I’m wearing my uniform outside of work, people often ask me what I am doing, and.