West Coast Trades Academy

04/09/2026

🌿 GET OUTDOORS AND LEARN BY DOING!

Our three Papa Taiao - West Coast Conservation and Earthcare programmes for 2027 are:

🌱 Conservation & Earthcare – Nursery Production NCEA 2 & 3
🐾 Conservation and Earthcare – Pest Control NCEA 2 & 3
🏞️ Environmental Tourism - NCEA 2 & 3

These exciting programmes offer predominantly outdoor, hands-on learning experiences, perfect for students interested in conservation, biodiversity, horticulture, tourism, environmental work and protecting our natural environment.

🚨 Expressions of interest are open now! Don’t wait! Spaces are filling quickly for these fun, practical programmes.

Apply online today:
👉 https://wcta.ac.nz/apply-online-with-form/

Greymouth High School Westland High School Hokitika Karamea Area School fans Buller High School South Westland Area School Reefton Area School John Paul II High School, Greymouth Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu - The Correspondence School

02/09/2026

🎓 ARE YOU LOOKING TO GAIN NCEA LEVEL 2 OR 3 NEXT YEAR?

REAL SKILLS. REAL CREDITS. A REAL HEAD START.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO!!!! Hear directly from our students about how the West Coast Trades Academy is helping them earn valuable NCEA credits towards achieving their full NCEA Level 2 or Level 3 qualification.

Trades Academy students remain enrolled at school while gaining practical, hands-on experience in an industry that interests them.

It’s a chance to build confidence, develop workplace skills and make meaningful progress towards both NCEA and a future career.

🚨 Expressions of interest for 2027 are open now and places are filling fast!

Explore our programmes and submit an expression of interest here:
👉 https://wcta.ac.nz/apply-online-with-form/

West Coast Trades Academy Great futures start here!

01/09/2026

All Trades Academy Students studying at Tai Poutini Polytechnic this Friday..note the cafe is closed.

Dash In Cafe – Closed Friday

Please note that Dash In Cafe will be closed this Friday. Students who usually use the café are encouraged to make alternative arrangements for food and drinks that day.

We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

31/08/2026

🌧️ What a wild West Coast drive to Karamea and back on the final day of winter!! It was wet, windy and absolutely worth it!

It was fantastic to meet with Karamea Area School’s senior and upcoming senior students and share the many opportunities available through the West Coast Trades Academy in 2027.

Thank you to the students and staff for such a warm welcome. We already have some great expressions of interest coming in from Karamea students, which is wonderful to see!

Karamea Area School students consistently excel across our different Trades Academy programmes, showing fantastic commitment despite the extra travel and distance involved. We are really looking forward to welcoming another great group of Karamea students in 2027 and supporting them as they explore their future pathways.

Thank you for having us, Karamea Area School! 💙
Next stop : South Westland Area School next week!!
Greymouth High School John Paul II High School, Greymouth Westland High School Hokitika Reefton Area School Buller High School Papa Taiao - West Coast fans Tai Poutini Polytechnic Whenua Iti Outdoors

28/08/2026

Now THIS is a classroom!!!! ♥️🙏☀️
Thank you Whenua Iti Outdoors !
Greymouth High School Westland High School Hokitika John Paul II High School, Greymouth Karamea Area School Buller High School Reefton Area School Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu - The Correspondence School South Westland Area School

28/08/2026

🧁💛 HUNDREDS OF CUPCAKES FOR AN AMAZING CAUSE! 💛🧁

What a fantastic effort from our West Coast Trades Academy Cheffing and Café Skills students at Tai Poutini Polytechnic today, who have been busy making hundreds of incredible cupcakes to sell throughout our community in support of the Cancer Society. 💛

And WOW — these cupcakes are seriously impressive! 🤩 The designs look amazing, they taste even better, and our students should be incredibly proud of what they have produced.

Every cupcake sold helps, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Society and the important work they do in our communities. 💛

We also had a few cupcakes left this afternoon, and when word got out, some wonderful local businesses stepped up with last-minute orders!

👏 A big shout-out to Grey District Council l and Tania Gibson for your support.

☀️ Jenna Ward and the fabulous team at Enz Hairdressers Greymouth.

👏 Thank you to Development West Coast and Jade Mahuika for getting behind our students and the fundraiser.

🌟 And the biggest Trades Academy order of the afternoon goes to the lovely team at PURE BEAUTY GREYMOUTH who snapped up 24 cupcakes! 🧁🧁🧁 Thank you so much, Cheri South and team — absolute superstars!

This is what we love to see — our students putting their skills into action, producing something they can be genuinely proud of, while our local community gets behind them to support a fantastic cause.

💛 Well done to our students, tutors and everyone who bought a cupcake today. What a brilliant community effort for the Cancer Society! 💛

John Paul II High School, Greymouth Greymouth High School Reefton Area School Karamea Area School South Westland Area School Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu - The Correspondence School Buller High School Westland High School Hokitika

27/08/2026

👋 TRADES ACADEMY IS RUNNING AS USUAL TODAY, DESPITE SOME CANCELLED SCHOOL BUSES.

THANK YOU. 🙏

26/08/2026

🚨🌼 LAST ORDERS TODAY! 🌼🚨

Get your orders in today and help our West Coast Trades Academy students raise funds for the Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day!

Our talented Café Skills and Cheffing & Baking students at Tai Poutini Polytechnic are making delicious lemon cupcakes—and every purchase supports the important work of the West Coast Cancer Society. 💛

🧁 Lemon cupcakes: $4 each
☕ Office shout: One cupcake and an espresso coffee for $7.50

📧 Orders and payment are still being accepted today!
Email your completed order form to [email protected] or return it with payment to TPP reception.

📍 Collection: Friday 28 August
⏰ 11.30am–1.30pm
📌 The restaurant beside the main car park at Tai Poutini Polytechnic, 73–87 Tainui Street, Greymouth

This wonderful annual fundraiser gives our students the opportunity to put their hospitality and baking skills into action while supporting an incredibly important cause.

🌼 All proceeds go to the West Coast Cancer Society. 🌼

Please get your orders in today and share this post with your friends, whānau and workplaces! 💛🧁

26/08/2026

🌟 Another fantastic school visit! 🌟

Yesterday we had the pleasure of presenting to upcoming seniors at assembly at Westland High School and sharing the exciting opportunities available through the West Coast Trades Academy in 2027.

It was especially great to chat with so many students afterwards. They had some excellent questions about our programmes, the different pathways available and what Trades Academy could mean for their futures. With lots of expressions of interest already coming in, there is clearly plenty of excitement about 2027! 🙌

Westland High School’s senior students are getting ready to take some great steps towards future careers—supported by their school and the West Coast Trades Academy.

Thank you, Westland High School for hosting us!

📍 Next stop: Karamea Area School on Monday. We will see you there! 👋

25/08/2026

🎥 Hear from a West Coast Trades Academy parent!!

Louise has supported two of her children through the West Coast Trades Academy and shares a parent’s perspective on the opportunities, confidence and pathways the experience has given them.

If you are the parent or caregiver of a secondary school student on the West Coast and wondering whether Trades Academy could be right for them, take a monet to hear Louise’s story.

Expressions of interest for 2027 are open now, and places are filling fast!

Explore our courses, watch more student and whānau stories, and submit an expression of interest at:

👉 www.wcta.ac.nz

Papa Taiao - West Coast fans Greymouth High School Westland High School Hokitika John Paul II High School, Greymouth South Westland Area School Buller High School Reefton Area School Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu - The Correspondence School Tai Poutini Polytechnic Whenua Iti Outdoors