We collaborated with Class of Your Own, award-winning creators of the Design Engineer Construct! Learning Programme to develop STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) skills in secondary school students.
Over the course of two days in early March, we worked with year-groups 8 and 9 at Walworth Academy, Southwark to design a fictional restaurant in the area. The students were asked to consider its design, structure and materials to coincide with their design and technology curriculum.
We were incredibly impressed as small groups of 13- and 14-year-old students shared their ideas to an auditorium full of their peers, teachers, and volunteers, who ultimately picked a winner and runner-up from each year group.
The winning groups have been invited in early summer to visit one of our development sites to learn more about the design and build process on a live site.
A total of 13 consultants and contractors involved with the Aylesbury regeneration project volunteered their time as part of their local social value commitments to share their knowledge and experience of the sector.
Students had the opportunity to hear from architects and structural engineers about their own career pathways, giving an insight into the vast array of roles and opportunities that exist within the industry.
They also outlined different routes into the sector, such as degree apprenticeships and vocational qualifications and for those who were particularly interested, work experience or apprenticeships with one of our consultants or contractors.
We wish to extend a massive thank you to Walworth Academy, Class of Your Own and the consultants and contractors who generously gave their time to this programme.
The feedback from the school and consultants has been overwhelmingly positive. We hope to return to the school in June to deliver a workshop with the Year 7 cohort of 180 students.
