Year 9 and 10 students from King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy in Frankley, Birmingham had careers in construction brought to life [during National Careers Week (4-9 March)] when they spent the afternoon at a future construction careers hub at Bloor Homes' Elgar Park development near Worcester.

Bloor Homes' Western regional Managing Director, Steve Roberts and Marketing Manager Holly Rose arranged the visit as part of their Careers and Enterprise Adviser support for the school.

Steve and Holly volunteer through the Careers and Enterprise Company's Enterprise Adviser scheme. It aligns people from industries with schools to help develop careers offerings and build connections between education and employers to improve students' career prospects.

Apprenticeship Masters Dave Auker-Howlett (Bricklaying) and Mark Simmons (Carpentry), along with apprentices in years 1-3 gave students a tour of two houses built by the bricklaying apprentices and showed them how to identify items on working drawings.

They discussed the different build stages of new homes and were taught the importance of wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and adhering to Health and Safety guidance when on site. They also learned about the apprenticeships and how to become and apprentice with Bloor Homes.

Bloor Homes' bricklaying and carpentry apprentices also gave the students the opportunity to try their hand at laying bricks and how to work out and measure angles for carpentry.

Steve Roberts, said: “We'd like to thank King Edward VI and Balaam Wood Academy for enabling the students who had expressed an interest in working in construction to visit the development. The Gatsby Benchmarks set out the evidence of the positive impact employee engagement can have on students in every year of secondary education and we wanted to give the Year 9 and 10 students a really positive, first-hand experience and importantly, the opportunity to talk to apprentices who were in their shoes not so long ago.

“This is our second year as Enterprise Advisers working with King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy supporting its careers strategy. We believe that we can encourage other businesses to give young people at the school an opportunity to have a hands-on experience of the workplace if we lead from the front.”

Miss Duckworth, Careers Leader and Head Of Year at King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy said: “The pupils were really engaged on this visit and incredibly well behaved which made us really proud. They were really inspired by the visit with some commenting on how they would like to train as bricklayers. For most this was the first time they have been behind the scenes in a professional workplace environment and we can't thank Bloor Homes and their young apprentices enough for such a fantastic day.”

Rav Lalli, the Enterprise Coordinator from Birmingham Career Hub, said: “Birmingham Career Hub is delighted to have the support of Bloor Homes in assisting students from King Edwards VI Balaam Wood Academy. This is in line with our priority of increasing opportunities for apprenticeships and technical education pathways and serves as a compelling illustration of the advantages students gain from engagement, with Bloor Homes taking the lead.”

Bloor Homes intends to repeat the visit with another cohort of students from the school this summer. Meanwhile Bloor Homes will continue to support the school's careers strategy and participation in its careers programmes including Mock Interviews and providing 'Career Shorts' from the Marketing & Sales and Technical departments.

The eight Gatsby Benchmarks which set a national standard for good career guidance are a stable careers programme; Learning from career and labour market information; 3. Addressing the needs of each pupil; Linking curriculum learning to careers; Encounters with employers and employees; Experiences of workplaces; Encounters with further and higher education; Personal guidance.

To find out more about apprenticeships and other opportunities with Bloor Homes, visit: bloorhomes.com/careers