Engineering challenge will put schools to test
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Secondary school pupils in Aberdeenshire will have the opportunity to see what careers there are within the construction industry.
Grampian Construction Training (GCT) and Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) are working in partnership with several partners to launch a series of engineering and building services challenges for S2 students.
The team launched a Bridge Building construction challenge for primary schools in 2018, and while this initiative will continue to run, the Build Your Future programme is aimed at engaging with secondary pupils as they decide which subjects to take for the first time, and think about where these choices might lead them.
The challenge is based on the successful Construction and Built Environment Challenge (CABEC), which has been running in Edinburgh for 20 years, organised by Anne Galbraith from Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT).
Creative marketing and events agency, Mearns and Gill, is supporting with the event management of the challenge.
The Build Your Future challenge offers an opportunity to bring the sector together, with the main aims of addressing the skills shortage, and showcasing the full range of career opportunities within the industry to students, parents and teachers.
Every secondary school in the region will be invited to submit a team of 10 pupils to take part, with more than 300 pupils and 10 teachers expected to register for the first year.
The initial half-day heats will take place in October and November 2019 at colleges, universities and businesses throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, giving pupils the opportunity to explore new learning environments, dispel any myths around what a career in construction looks like, and talk to staff and experts.
The challenge ends with a final one-day event in January 2020, where the 10 top scoring teams are invited to take part in a series of fun but demanding challenges, with an overall winner being announced at the end.
Jim Buchan, chairman of Grampian Construction Training, said: “Grampian Construction Training is committed to improving and increasing training within the industry and works closely with industry to identify individual and group training needs and produce bespoke training programmes.
"The group is committed to joining forces to make training viable and working in partnership with colleges, universities and training providers to develop future training and promoting new training initiatives for the industry.
“This challenge allows us to bring together schools, colleges, universities and potential employers, in a way that allows us to introduce the construction sector in a fun and exciting way whilst addressing the stereotypes that are still prevalent.
"There is an ever-increasing skills shortage, which our members are continuously looking for new ways to address, and our hope is that we have the same success as Anne and her team in Edinburgh, with the schools challenge becoming an important annual event within the school year.”
For more information about the various ways that the event can be supported, contact Isla Stewart, Mearns and Gill, at isla.stewart@mearns-gill.com
