The New Zealand School of Winegrowing will offer 20 year 12 students in Marlborough a chance to gain NCEA credits, while learning the basics of the wine industry.
Marlborough Boys’ College Assistant Principal James Ryan says the idea was first mooted by him back in 2015. He says it was obvious that Marlborough offered a large number of opportunities to young people in terms of employment, yet many within the school system couldn’t see past the jobs of pruning and wire lifting.
“They drive past vineyards on a cold, frosty morning and see big gangs of RSE workers and think; ‘I am not going to do that, because it’s minimum wage’. We need to shatter the perception that it is just picking, pruning and lifting. They can’t see that there are tractor drivers, harvest drivers, vineyard managers, cellar hands and so many other jobs available to them, if they have the suitable skills.”
How they gain those skills is the issue Ryan says. It seemed like the obvious solution - teach them in a school environment that provided not only practical experience but also gave the students the opportunity to gain NCEA credits that could take them further up the education ladder.
“Students require 60 credits or higher at level two (year 12). But it doesn’t have any component around what those credits are for. You could get 20 credits in Biology, 20 credits in Chemistry, 20 credits in Geography. That’s 60, that’s NCEA level 2. You don’t have to have maths, you don’t have to have English. Just 60 credits.”
Ryan says the aim is to provide the students with contextualized teaching, where the chemistry component could be based around winemaking and the biology say, is based about vine physiology.
“In biology for example, students learn about the life cycle of a plant or an animal, so that is one standard worth about four credits. Just what that life cycle is, is up to the teacher. So long as you meet the criteria by which achieved, merit and excellence are marked at, the context is inconsequencual.”
A large number of what most would consider traditional subjects will be taught in relation to the wine industry overall, he says. For example, writing up a report will count towards English, learning about tritation and pH analysis would fit into chemistry and maths would be taught through the topic of calculations for product or spray additions.
In consultation with the industry itself, Ryan says there were a number of skills specified that would be useful to include in the programme. These include first aid, Health and Safety, and GroSafe certification – subjects that will stand all students in good stead within the industry should they chose to move into it. These would add to the number of credits a student was able to attain.
“All of a sudden we are looking at a programme with 120 credits available for the student to attain, and they only need 60 to gain NCEA level two.”
While initially the course is one-year only, Ryan says they are keen with industry involvement, to expand it into a two-year course, which will cater for those wanting to go further within the industry.
“We figure that we will lose students at the end of that first year, who will go into the industry and will be soaked up. They will start their career with Level 2 NCEA and go to a wine company to work, happily progressing up the ladder to managers, operators or whatever else.
Then there will be a percentage who will want to stay on for a second year to go off to NMIT, Lincoln or EIT to look at a potential of doing the degree to become a winemaker.”
He does not expect the 20 that start in 2018 will end in 2019 with all going off to University. Instead he believes the programme will provide what the industry is crying out for at the moment, skilled workers leading towards middle managers.
Going on past initiatives in the trade academy model, Ryan says programme such as this help to keep students in learning.
“Education is one of those really powerful tools that can change a lot of things, from social welfare issues through to unemployment figures.”
An added bonus for the students, is if they decide after a year at the School of Winegrowing, the industry is not for them, they can then move back into the school system as a year 13 student.
It is understandable that the Marlborough wine industry is so behind the programme.
The lack of skilled workers has become one of the industry’s concerns in recent years, as Marlborough’s wine industry continues to grow. In a Labour Market Survey undertaken in the region in 2016, the following was reported; “All vineyards identified a shortage of skilled, competent and willing workers as a key issue, with little interest from school leavers for outside physical work. There was a general concern that there is a lack of young people entering the industry and that many job seekers are only working because they are required to.”
The New Zealand School of Winegrowing has been funded by New Zealand Winegrowers and Wine Marlborough, and would not have got off the ground initially Ryan says without the support of the Marlborough Grape Producers Cooperative. He says more industry funding will be required for the school to continue after 2018, which he is more than hopeful will be forthcoming.
What will it cover?
The Certificate in Viticulture and Wine will cover:
• Viticulture and viticulture management practices
• Wine Production
• Business principles
• Machinery operations
• Leadership and team building
In addition to specific Certificate in Viticulture and Wine core subjects taught with traditional school subjects, participants will also undertake;
• The GroSafe programme
• A First Aid certificate
• A driver’s licence programme
• Health and Safety and emergency response training
• Level 2 NCEA units.
