A team of Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure volunteers has helped set up a BTEC Construction course at Manchester Health Academy (MHA) to equip the Wythenshawe school’s students with a variety of sought after industry skills.
The site team from the nearby Manchester Metropolitan University Arts and Humanities Building project are making use of the previously idle replica construction site at the Academy, which houses a number of workstations for the students to gain practical construction skills in bricklaying, joinery and health & safety.
The course, which is currently being offered to year 10 and 11 pupils, is designed to give students an advantage when applying for apprenticeships by providing them with knowledge and experience of a live construction site.
The pupils have also attended a site visit at Manchester Metropolitan to see first-hand how the skills they are learning can be put into practice. Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure is currently onsite delivering the new flagship £46 million Arts and Humanities Building, as the first project in the wider strategic transformation of the city-centre campus over the next five years.
The project involves the construction of a 133,472 sq ft development on the corner of Oxford Road and Cavendish Street, and will house teaching spaces, a Poetry Library, a 180-seat auditorium and state-of-the-art in-house TV and radio studios for the new Multimedia Journalism programme.
Martyn Kitchen, site manager at Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure, along with Manchester Health Academy’s Mr Jones and volunteers from Joe Hollingsworth Brickwork Ltd have been overseeing the course and visit the Academy every Thursday to teach and support the students. Martyn has also spoken at the Academy’s careers programme “Aspire to Be,” at which the school invites figures from various industries to present to Year 9-13 students about their job role, their route into their chosen career and the qualifications they needed.
Discussing the benefits of the course, Martyn said: “As the industry is being challenged with an increasing skills shortage paired with an ever growing demand, it’s important we look at ways of guiding and encouraging the next generation to consider the array of career routes within the sector. Seeing the students take such an active interest in the lessons is therefore incredibly rewarding, and both the pupils and staff at MHA have been amazing in their approach to a new challenge and subject matter.”
Barry Roberts, managing director at Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure in the north, said: “There are some fantastic facilities on offer at the Academy and I’m sure the construction zone is just the start. We’re looking forward to working with MHA on a number of different projects in the future and would like to thank them for their effort and enthusiasm so far.”
Mr Green, Principal at Manchester Health Academy said: “As a growing Academy, it is very encouraging to see students developing their practical skills in a new subject area in the Construction Zone, and having staff from Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and Joe Hollingsworth Brickwork is really bringing it to life for them.”
Mason, a year 10 pupil at MHA said: “This course has been great for me, and has made me really think about going into a career in the construction sector. I’m interested in apprenticeships and I think the skills I’ve learnt here have made me much more prepared when it comes to applying.”
