Hunter young women tackle trade pathways and show 'Girls Can Too'

The program saw 29 girls from 11 Hunter schools learning hands-on skills like carpentry, electrical, automotive, welding and electronics over a nine week program, based at Hunter Valley Training Company.

The students, ranging from year 10 to 12, got their hands dirty learning to service a car, make a picnic table and weld a phone stand.

They each completed a week of work experience in their chosen field, took industry site tours and spoke with trailblazing women who have already tackled a trade pathway.

All Saints College, Maitland student Maddison Winchester, 15, spent her work experience at Mayfield's GB Electrical, and said she is planning on pursuing electrical in the future.

"I had three days at the university campus and we did general maintenance around the university fixing lights, putting in powerpoints and fault finding," she said.

Ms Winchester's favourite activity while out in the field was getting to go under a train to put in power points.

Irrawang High School student Jemma McGrorey-Clarke is an aspiring diesel mechanic, and had a ball at her host Teterin Engineering in Islington, coming away with an apprenticeship offer.

"I was definitely intimidated because it was all men but they were all really welcoming, I was a bit shy at first but they were trying to start conversations with me, and they were really patient with me as I was learning," she said.

After this successful first run, Girls Can Too will be run in the Hunter annually. The program is funded by the NSW government's Regional Industry Education Partnerships (RIEP) program.

RIEP senior project officer Walter Mansfield said the program's purpose is to show the young women they can pursue any trade, and that employers will welcome them.

"There are lots of employers out there locally who want to increase female participation in their trades," he said.

"[We want to] really empower those female students to pursue an apprenticeship, knowing there is an opportunity for them to do that."

Students involved were from; All Saints' College Maitland, Maitland Grossmann High School, Maitland High School, Rutherford Technology High School, St Joseph's Lochinvar, Irrawang High School, Hunter River High School, St Catherine's Catholic College, Mount View High School, Newcastle High School and Callaghan College Jesmond.

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