College – Issue 41

Henry Wells For Henry, 20, College “taught me real-life skills, openness, patience and persistence”. “I feel that I have been more than set up to take on any challenges thrown at me in my career,” he says. “College was very supportive, giving me opportunities such as the dual pathways course I attended in Year 13. “My most inspiring teacher would have to be Gavin Love. He showed me that my love for cars can be more than just a hobby and taught

and spent several weeks doing work experience there over the next two years, which, ultimately, resulted in a job offer.” Henry is nearly a year into his apprenticeship, which involves servicing, diagnosing and fixing classic and high-end cars, along with other fabrication work. In Year 13, Henry undertook an automotive course at Ara, spending Monday to Thursday at College and doing the automotive course on Fridays. “Without the backing of Chris Sellars and Executive Principal Garth Wynne, this would not have been possible,” he says. “College was also very supportive when I decided to leave in Year 13 to take on a fulltime automotive course, giving me a head-start in my journey to becoming an apprentice mechanic.” Henry believes that College has paved the way for career success. “I want to thank Gavin Love, Garth Wynne, Arthur Wood, Chris Sellars, Henry Smith and former College

teacher Chloe Harland, along with all the other staff who helped, taught and influenced me during my time at College,” he says. “I have been lucky to work on, drive and see very rare and valuable cars, including a 1959 Ferrari 250 Testarossa replica built in-house at Auto Restorations, a 1956 Jaguar D Type and a 1966 Iso Grifo,” he says. He is already looking forward to the next classic car that powers into the business. “The best jobs so far involve the restoration of an Isotta Fraschini 8A, transmission work on a Jensen Interceptor and helping to remove an engine from a Ferrari Dino.” Henry is equally thrilled to get behind the wheel of these incredible cars. “In 10 years, I hope to still be working at Auto Restorations or even starting my own venture by opening my own workshop, which has been a dream since this all started in Year 12.”

me skills such as welding.” Henry, who is an apprentice

mechanic at Auto Restorations, attended College in School House from 2017–2019. “I moved into my career after finishing my pre-trade course at SIT,” he says. “In Year 12, I approached Gavin, my Mechanical Engineering teacher, and asked him if he could help me get some work experience over my holiday break. I was then introduced to Auto Restorations

Christ’s College Canterbury

90

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs