Getting ahead with a trade.

This year, Blake Stiles is the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Vocational Excellence Award, a prize recognising a student who has excelled in vocational training. This award highlights the importance of trades training in Aotearoa, and showcases the great career pathways available in these professions. Blake has been awarded this prize for excelling in his construction courses at school and at the Ara Institute of Technology on the Dual Enrolment programme, and has also been offered a full-time apprenticeship with a great local company, John Garlick Builders, through our Gateway programme. This award also comes with a cash prize of $2000 for Blake to use on starting out on his career in the construction industry.