A forklift loads boxes into a large delivery truck down the side lane of one of Launceston's most unusual schools.
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Inside, a 15-year-old student readjusts his safety glasses as he puts the finishing touches to moulded legs for timber-finished cots.
In the school cafe, a 14-year-old dressed in his tidiest army camouflage gear, mixes up a batch of muffins for morning tea.
You won't find a classroom, desks or a whiteboard at Launceston's Studentworks, in the old Four Roses factory at Rocherlea.
But you will find teenagers who had given up on the notion of school being fun, or even relevant, hard at work with big grins on their faces.
In the 25 years since pioneer educator Marjorie Knox first opened the Launceston Student Workshop, the innovative training centre has built an impressive reputation.
Coordinator Lin Farrington said that Studentworks has a 95 per cent success rate in securing employment for its students.
"We placed all our 14 students last year," she said.
Studentworks' success comes down to its unusual operating style - teenagers spend alternate weeks at the innovative student workplace and return to their high schools for traditional education curriculum programmes in between.
At Studentworks, all students - boys and girls - spend time in each section of the operation, acquiring the skills needed to work safely and effectively in industries such as retailing, hospitality, engineering, carpentry and mechanics.
What the teenagers like is that when they are at Studentworks, it's real work, even down to the hours that they keep.
The centre is 60 per cent self- supporting from privately contracted business.
A small showroom in the oyer displays the furniture manufactured by the students - baby cots, high chairs, storage chests, garden furniture, street benches.
"We are the only nursery furniture manufacturer in Tasmania now," says Ms Farrington proudly.
"And we've been doing a lot of streetscape work lately - we did the Mowbray upgrade, all the seats, rubbish bins, plant stands."
The big industrial community at Rocherlea regards Studentworks as its local coffee shop.
Manageress Jenny Ridler supervises a team of students who run the tiny cafe, making the cakes, biscuits and muffins daily and devising and preparing the lunch menu.
A dilapidated car waits out the back in the workshop to be transformed into sparkling working order.
"We're going to enter it in Targa," says Ms Farrington.
She has been at Studentworks for 10 years.
"I love it. The sad thing about more traditional teaching is that you don't always see students out the other end," she said.
"Here, the kids come back and tell us about their jobs and bring their cars and babies to show us. We're very lucky."
But student Ricky Searson has the last word:
"It's the sort of thing I want to do when I leave school. I just want to get on with it," he said.
