Workmanlike judgment

By Shaun Inguanzo
CHISHOLM TAFE teachers have judged the winner of a commercial television series that began showing last weekend.
Channel Nine has filmed and is now airing the King Gee Jack of All Trades, a national search to find Australia’s greatest all-round trades person.
The first episode aired Saturday 2 December and was hosted by Luke Van Dyck, cricketer Shane Lee, and other celebrities.
Fraser Dempster of Chisholm’s Dandenong campus and Rodger Carroll of the Frankston campus were seconded by the reality television program’s head adjudicator to take part in the series’ grand final round filmed recently in Chelsea Heights.
“(The adjudicator) specifically asked for two TAFE teachers to be part of the judging process,” Mr Dempster said.
“Chisholm Institute was contacted in the first instance, and we were then asked if we could participate.”
Mr Dempster said there was no effort in the decision – a resounding yes.
“I would think this is a reflection of Chisholm’s reputation and of the standard of training in building and furniture – during the competition, our expertise was highly regarded.
“I would go as far as saying that looking at Chisholm’s own apprentices and pre-apprentices, and how we train them, they are well and truly on their way to being in line, if not a cut above current industry standards.”
With a $100,000 trade kit at stake, contestants were required to take part in a number of tasks which formed part of the multi-skill trade challenge where they were assessed against a criteria that included occupational health and safety aspects, accuracy, speed and professionalism.
“There were a whole lot of activities they took part in during the competition like brickwork, carpentry, waterproofing, painting, oxy cutting, tiling, demolition, and work vehicle handling,” Mr Dempster said.
“Because of the nature of the competition, we were really looking at the building aspect of things as they built a sub-floor, frame, letterbox, window frames, wall frames and the demolition side of things.
“This required that we observe their accuracy, attention to detail, their knowledge, their preparation and the manner in which they approached their task,” he said.