A brand-new school programme which aims to show young people how the curriculum directly links to careers within the construction industry has been launched by North of England contractor, Esh Group.
‘Construction in the Curriculum’ delivers a timetabled subject through a construction and built environment lens in a bid to inform students about careers in the industry and how their education applies to real life job roles.
The first workshop will see Esh staff take over a Maths lesson with students experiencing ‘a day in the life of a Quantity Surveyor’ to highlight the importance of maths skills in the surveying role. Students will apply the curriculum that they have previously learnt to a real-life scenario by calculating volume, length, square area and quantities from bespoke project drawings, as well as percentages and profit margins.
The programme is now being rolled out to secondary schools nearby its construction sites across the North East, Tees Valley, Yorkshire and the Humber, with more than 130 students engaged so far.
Darush Dodds, Director of Corporate Affairs at Esh Group, said: “The launch of this new careers programme builds on our 11 years of experience delivering workshops within schools as we work hard to change outdated perceptions of the construction sector and encourage more young people to consider a career in the industry.
“Programmes which bring together business and education are integral in helping students make informed decisions about their future. With Construction in the Curriculum, we want to introduce students to relatable role models as well as help them understand how their day-to-day education can directly link to construction and the built environment careers.”
Esh has worked closely with a Tees Valley secondary school to align the programme to the curriculum and recently delivered sessions in five schools across the North East and Yorkshire. Sheralyn Cooper, maths teacher at Whickham High School, said: “The session was really engaging, it linked different topics of maths and applied real life experiences to bring the maths to life. The maths was perfectly pitched for the class it was delivered too. Overall, it was the best school engagement project I have ever been involved in.”
The programme launch follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he plans to ensure all students continue studying maths until the age of 18. Dodds added: “The Prime Minister’s plans places emphasis on the role maths can play in preparing today’s young people for their future career. Many people may see construction as simply building and on-site trades, but the ability to calculate quantities, cost and dimensions, to name a few, is integral throughout the whole sector.
“While the first workshop is maths-based, our next steps will be to integrate construction into more subject areas, including, geography and design and technology.”
Last year, Queen’s Award-winning Esh Group engaged with more than 9,000 secondary school students through employability workshops and over 1,000 primary school students through its STEM-based careers programme.