Aquinas College is proud to introduce its very own Junior Repair Café—a hands-on initiative where Technology students develop real-world repair skills by fixing items from around the school and from staff members.
The project is the brainchild of Mr Pete Nicholson, the Technology Faculty’s Leader of Learning, who launched the concept with his Year 8 CIC class to focus on sustainability and reduce landfill. It is inspired by the popular TV show The Repair Shop.
Under Mr Nicholson’s guidance, students learn to diagnose and fix basic electrical, mechanical, and hard materials items, breathing new life into everything from broken gadgets to vintage household items.
Students are tackling maintenance tasks around the school and repairs to items brought in by staff. They’ve repaired guttering and downpipes, Mr Kirkham’s guitar, Whaea Trudie’s antique iron, Mr Gernhoefer’s buzzy bee, patched up carpet squares in the Library, and rebuilt the Uniform Shop coat rack, among other tasks.
Mr Nicholson brings repair experience to the initiative, volunteering regularly with Repair Café Tauranga at Basestation, which runs on the last Saturday of each month.
