Callum completed his secondary education at Aparima College before embarking on a joinery apprenticeship as a Modern Apprentice with Lloyds Joinery Ltd in Invercargill. Southern Group Training is the Modern Apprentice Coordinator for 18 industries in Southland.

Callum has his own Modern Apprenticeship Coordinator who has developed an individual training plan for him which sets realistic goals and timeframes to achieve them in. The Coordinator, Karen Hogh, meets with Callum on a regular basis and is available as a mentor to both Callum and his employer.

During the course of his apprenticeship Callum must undertake the required theory and practical components of the unit standards required to complete his Level 4 National Certificate in Joinery. The theory components, and some practical, are taught through a series of block courses at the Southern Institute of Technology, while the majority of the practical components are taught in the workplace and assessed either by the workshop assessor or while on block course.

Callum’s skills have already been put to the test in the Otago Joinery Manufacturers Association Regional Customwood Awards when he achieved a top three placing in the nil – 400 hour category.