How to spark an interest in Construction and Engineering? That is the challenge for everyone involved in these industries. The well-documented skills shortage is exacerbated by the lack of awareness of the many different career opportunities available.
SATRO, a Guildford based charity aims to inspire young people into science, technology, engineering and maths; linking with schools and business to provide hands-on challenges to empower, educate and enthuse young people.
Beard’s Guildford Office partnered with SATRO in 2015 to provide a link to a relevant business and raise young people’s awareness of the construction industry. To date they have supported SATRO events in 12 schools, providing both financial support and volunteers. The events have so inspired the Guildford office that SATRO was one of the three charities supported in the fundraising to celebrate Beard’s 125 years in business.
Aimed at school years 5-6, it gives schoolchildren an opportunity to build up skills that will equip them for the business world. They can be challenged to design shelters, stadiums or bridges but all challenges provide the children with an opportunity to exercise the skills of planning, designing, implementing, reviewing, problem solving, teamwork and communication.
Photo (R): The winning team from Crawley Down School with their stadium.
The construction challenges also give an opportunity for the children to learn about the forces applicable to the structures such as torsion and tension, allowing them to begin to think about how these forces may affect their construction.
The children are given a presentation which highlights some of the unique buildings around the world, an overview of the day and some hints and tips to think about during the experience, as well as being shown how to utilise the paper, tape and nuts and bolts to build their structure. They then split into their groups to plan and design their structure and to allocate roles for the day.
Beard volunteers and SATRO associates are on hand, alongside the children’s teachers, to provide guidance and to motivate any children that may lose focus or need support.
Once the structure is built the teams must put together a presentation outlining the features and benefits of their stadium which they then present to the judges. The finance manager in each team also calculates the cost of the project based on the materials used.
The teams with the best presentation and best design are shortlisted and put forward to the final, where all shortlisted teams give a presentation before the final judging, with the winning team receiving a prize.
There is nothing more powerful than a personal experience shared when inspiring young people to consider their future career path. The enthusiasm and involvement of the Beard staff improves perceptions of the industry and enthuses students to understand more about construction. Thank you to all at Beard for your support
We are delighted to be supporting SATRO develop the next generation of craftsmen for our industry. The SATRO course and approach to learning is excellent; in addition to helping the students develop construction skills the course supports their wider learning. We look forward to deepening our existing 4-year partnership with SATRO further
The feedback from these events has been extremely positive, providing both the children and the volunteers with experience they might otherwise have not had and hopefully inspiring some of them to consider a career in the construction industry. A pupil from one of the Primary Schools involved commented:
“I found it really fun and a very different activity from what we usually do at school. For the first time for AGES I was looking forward to the end of playtime! It helped me improve my building skills and how to do team work overall, it was a great day”.
As well as being involved in volunteering and supporting the SATRO events in schools Beard are also currently supporting SATRO’s mobile classroom provision to teach BTEC Construction qualifications in schools. With six trained tutors and their fully kitted vans SATRO are running 37 sessions this year to over 250 students from Oxfordshire to East Surrey. Students include those that are specifically looking to join the construction industry, to those that struggle with an academic curriculum and are seeking a vocational career. SATRO also provide the course to special needs students who are seeking everyday life skills for their future.
SATRO's Managing Director, Anne Edwards says "The support SATRO receive from Beard is invaluable in bringing STEM skills to primary schools and construction qualifications to secondary students. For us, it is not simply the funding that supports schools access these activities, but the time and experience your volunteers bring into the classroom. There is nothing more powerful than a personal experience shared when inspiring young people to consider their future career path. The enthusiasm and involvement of the Beard staff improves perceptions of the industry and enthuses students to understand more about construction. Thank you to all at Beard for your support."
Learn more about SATRO on their website www.satro.org.uk