Northumberland students gain work experience

Kier offered six students vital knowledge about the construction industry this summer at Ponteland High School, in Northumberland, during a week of first-hand construction site work experience at the school itself.

The students, aged between 15 and 17 years old, were provided with a unique week of work experience entailing first-hand construction work, presentations, and workshops on a range of construction and business topics, allowing them to develop useful skills that will help them in their respective studies.

Kier are currently constructing the new Ponteland High School on behalf of the Northumberland County Council, as part of a new £43M fund to provide the county with new leisure and learning spaces. The project will likewise feature a 420-pupil primary school, a community leisure centre, a café, a library, and new Ponteland fire station.

The Project Manager at Kier Regional Building, Roddy Graham stated: “We were delighted to welcome the group from Ponteland High School on to site. They were a pleasure to have and were all really interested in seeing the progress we are making on their new building and what a career in construction could hold for them.

“Kier places great importance in the development of young people and actively support schools across the country in STEM subjects as well as speaking directly to pupils about the construction industry and ways to enter. We are extremely happy to be working with Northumberland County Council and Ponteland High School to further engage pupils in the development of this new state of the art facility.”

A work experience student from Ponteland High School, Amy Anderson added: “Whilst being at Kier, I’ve learnt more about the large variety of jobs within the construction industry. It’s also made me want to look further into the job of a Design Manager. This has been a great experience and I’d strongly recommend other people apply, to take part.”

The Northumberland County Councillor for Ponteland East, Eileen Armstrong concluded: “It is great that this major development in Ponteland is giving students first-hand experience of the type of jobs and careers they might pursue in the construction industry.

“The development is really taking shape now and is going to provide fantastic learning environments and wonderful community facilities for Ponteland and surrounding communities.”

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here.

The post Northumberland students gain work experience appeared first on UK Construction Online.