World of Work Day Lays Foundations for Careers in Construction for Newport Learners

Learners heard about the many exciting career opportunities in construction at a World of Work Day we held recently at Newport High School.

We went along to the school to lead some hands-on workshops, with 40 Year 10 learners from the construction course getting to grips with planning and creating their own building project.

As a company, we have put much work into developing our World of Work programme, which sees us engage with schools and colleges across all the regions in which we operate, to promote the wide and varied roles within the construction industry.

A number of the young people who get involved in the World of Work scheme then go on to take up work experience with us, to further hone their skills.

We are passionate about construction as a viable and valuable career path, recognising that is it vital to recruit new talent to meet the predicted construction skills gap and the growth within the industry.

More than 230,000 jobs are expected to be created within UK construction over the next five years, according to the Construction Industry Training Board, with 17,500 of those in Wales. In fact the construction industry in Wales is growing faster than it is in the UK as a whole.

The pupils completed two tasks over the course of the day, to a strict budget, which encouraged team The Newport High School World of Work Day consisted of presentations and group tasks to introduce pupils to the world of construction.  building, good communication and problem solving skills.

Antonia John, Community Engagement Manager for Morganstone, said: “The day was a fantastic success and it was great to see the individual teams form all-important partnerships, working together to undertake and complete the tasks.

“Strong teamwork is the key to the success of any construction project. “It was encouraging to hear the learners’ enthusiasm for construction and I know a number of them were keen to take up careers in the industry themselves in the near future.

“I know it can be difficult for young people to envisage their futures and what a particular job will actually entail, day-to-day, so this was a great opportunity to give them some meaningful insight.”

Wales-based architectural firm Le Trucco Design were also involved in the day and Newport Gwent Dragons kindly donated match tickets to the team who completed the construction task most impressively.

Steve Smith, Design and Technology, Subject Team Leader from Newport High School said:  “We are delighted to be part of Morganstone’s most recent World of Work event”.

“Initiatives like these help give our learners a taste of the working world and its different environments, expectations and rewards, so it is something we wholeheartedly encourage our learners to take part in.

“It can also be difficult for young people to identify the educational and training paths they need to take in order to create a career for themselves, so engaging with them in this very practical and informative way is a great way really helps them.”