Project Gallery
Build-Ability Challenge 2010
THE BCITO Build-Ability Challenge is an annual, nationwide school-based programme to construct a building project that is donated to a local community group.
The BCITO has successfully held the Build-Ability Challenge for the past five years, and in that time, the Challenge has given school groups the opportunity to make a significant and lasting contribution to their local communities.
The Build-Ability Challenge aims to create an opportunity for students to experience the positive impact they can have on their local community, through skills such as building, while giving them a taste of the building industry – experiencing the real-life, on-the-job demands of a building project.
Many of the students who participate in the Challenge find they also learn a lot of skills, which they can use in other areas of life.
There were twenty two entries to the 2010 BCITO Build-Ability Challenge. There was again a wide range of projects chosen. Kindergartens and play centres continue to be the most popular community groups to benefit from Challenge projects, though there were some notable exceptions: improved steps and seating at a local landfill for the recycling enterprise; a long-drop toilet for a community-owned recreation hut in an isolated spot; fitness equipment for a Council-owned park.
There was a clear winner this year. The national judges were extremely pleased that the there was a group of five or six entries vying for third and fourth places.
First Place Winner – Morrinsville College
The Morrinsville college team designed and built a tool storage cabinet with work surfaces for the preschooler’s at Ruston Road Kindergarten. Not only was the project completed to a very high standard, but the documentation presented for judging was exceptional. As they had in past Challenges, the Morrinsville team made sure that every aspect of the project was recorded from day one, and that the record laid it out fully and logically.
They chose this project because it required more thought and greater skills than some of the other projects they were considering.
The tool cabinet was replacing an existing trolley the kindergarten was using. The new cabinet needed to be practical and easy to use, safe for the children, and required specific storage for the different tools. It had to close up and be waterproof as it would be stored outdoors overnight. It also needed to be on wheels so that it could be moved into a shed over the holiday periods.
A Morrinsville College team achieved second place in 2009.
Download/read the Morrinsville college team's workbook (PDF, 18Mb)
Second Place Winner – Feilding High School
The Feilding High school team decided to make a project for the Manchester Kindergarten in Feilding. They made them a carpentry shed and construction table. The new equipment needed to be user friendly for the children and staff. The team thought their project would be a great way to introduce young children into carpentry, and that they may carry on with carpentry into secondary school and the workforce.
The BCITO Training Advisor involved made particular mention of the way that the team had worked very independently and it was clear that team roles had been carefully allocated according to individual strengths. There were two exceptional aspects of the Feilding project. One was that the team had successfully sought sponsorship for the project from a number of local businesses and correctly reported on this activity as part of the project. The other was that the ‘evaluation’ section of the project record was a ‘warts-and-all’ analysis of how they had done, and closed off the report most appropriately.
Feilding High was a top-ten entry in 2009.
Third Place Winner – Glenfield College
Glenfield’s client was also a kindergarten (Apple Tree Preschool) and the project was an outdoor table with storage facilities that the BCITO Training Advisor described as ‘impressive’. National judges particularly enjoyed the photographic evidence that the team had visited the kindy to measure up the children in order to better design the table. A stand-out feature of the project report was a section called ‘Personal Profiles’ which included photos of team members and a description of the role each played in the project.
This was a project which deserved its third placing especially because of the thoroughness and honesty of the record that was kept.
People’s Choice Winner - Hawera High School
HaweraHigh School’s team constructed an Outdoor classroom / Play House / Whare for the Manaia Pre School. The project was built to resemble a whare which you might find on a local marae. The completed project has a timber floor on piles with the ‘finished floor level’ as close to the existing ground line as possible. The walls are timber framed, lined with plywood on the inside and a rustic effect on the outside. Windows are framed and fitted with a clear perspex sheet. The roof is clad with colour steel.
