TASSIE APPRENTICE WINS NATIONAL AWARD

Friday, 23 November 2012 - 4:08pm

The Skills Institute’s reigning CBUS Construction Apprentice of the Year James Gamble has added to his list of achievements, winning the National Apprentice of the Year at the Master Builders’ National Excellence in Building and Construction Awards on November 16.

James, who is employed by Fairbrother Pty Ltd, completed his Certificate IV last year and is now a Leading Hand working on the Medical Sciences 2 project in Hobart city.

He was recognised for excellence in both practical and theoretical components of his apprenticeship. The Master Builders awards judges were impressed with the broad range of tasks James completed while working on iconic projects across Hobart, and his commitment to his trade.

It is the second consecutive year that Fairbrother has trained the Master Builders’ National Apprentice of the Year and their fifth national award-winning apprentice in the past 10 years.

Chief Executive of Master Builders Australia Wilhelm Harnisch said the award is an important celebration of the achievements of young people in the industry.

“Building and Construction is a vital industry to Australia and is the largest user of the vocational training and apprenticeship system. Tens of thousands of people and take up an apprenticeship in the building and construction industry each year.

“Fairbrother deserve commendation, demonstrating a strong commitment to nurturing and training the next generation of builders.

“With people like Mr Gamble entering building and construction and employers like Fairbrother, it is clear the future of the industry is in good hands.”

James said The Skills Institute’s training format of both in-classroom and on-site training and assessment was very beneficial.

“The mixture of on-site and off-site training allowed me to learn both from the tradesmen and from the Skills Institute teachers, who are all ex-tradesmen themselves and have a lot of knowledge,” he said.

“In the classroom I learned so much about how things are done and specifications – some things I just couldn’t have learned on-site.

 “My teacher Chris Martin was great. He delivered the training plans at the right times and conducted about half of my apprenticeship assessment on-site.”

James also won the TBCITB Best Final Year Apprentice (South) award at The Skills Institute’s awards nights in March.