It’s not often you find high school students willing to give up their school holidays to do work experience, but for Sisilia Fokelau, a young woman from Mangere, the decision was easy.

A student at Southern Cross Campus, Sisilia aged 16, recently graduated from her second round on
the Spotless Cadetship Programme.

The programme, a joint initiative between Kāinga Ora and maintenance partner Spotless (a Downer
company), aims to give Mangere youth exposure to different vocations and careers, while encouraging employment and providing a positive activity for the school holidays.

“My first cadetship during term 2 was daunting,” said Sisilia. “I was shy and not sure if I’d be able to do the work, however the mentors were really amazing at guiding me through the programme.”

During her second cadetship, Sisilla again worked with mentors, but this time identifying the need for repair work on Kāinga Ora homes in Auckland.

“Last term I was on the tools, this term I was out assisting my mentor with scoping and scheduling jobs for different trades. “I learnt about the different aspects to construction, not just in carpentry but all the trades involved in bringing a home up to modern standards. My dad is a carpentry tutor, so I have always enjoyed learning about the building process, but didn’t think I’d be looking at a future in construction until now,” said Sisilia.

Both of Sisila’s parents, Jeremaia and Catherine attended her graduation ceremony at the Downer head office in Wiri and could not be more proud of their daughter’s achievement.

“The Spotless Cadetship programme has been a great opportunity for Sisilia, especially as a young
woman. We’ve seen her confidence grow and can’t wait to see where this pathway takes her,” said Jeremaia.

To date, Kāinga Ora and Spotless have hosted 10 cadetships giving over 100 students, 15 of whom were female, the opportunity to experience career options in the construction industry.

Kāinga Ora Construction Plus Manager, Nigel Chandra, says building confidence and capability in young people to explore a future in the construction industry is a key focus of the programme.

“It was wonderful to see another cohort of students from Mangere graduate from the cadetship. It’s given them a first-hand taste of the trades and we hope that seeing the success of Sisila and the other students will encourage even more young woman to take part next time,” said Nigel.

Casey Sutherland, Trades and Resource Co-ordinator at Spotless says, It is an incredible honour to support young wahine into the Trades industry.

“It has been remarkable to witness Sisilia’s journey from the shy young lady I met in July 2022 through to the confident young tradie-in-the-making I saw in October 2022.

“She is a true inspiration for all other wahine thinking about dipping their toes into this industry,” said Casey.

Sisilia hopes to build on her knowledge base by taking part in the Spotless Cadetship next year.

For now she is firmly focused on completing her high school studies and is already looking to study a trade or construction in the future.

“I want to be an all-rounder, with the practical knowledge from working on the tools and eventually work my way up to become a site project manager,” Says Sisilia.