Maidstone school awarded prize for leisure centre competition.
The CIOB has teamed up with organisation MyKindaFuture to raise the visibility of professional careers in the built environment among young people.
The organisation facilitates connections between employers and school pupils, by setting specific challenges that boost work-related skills. Teachers can use the challenges, set by employers and sponsors, as curriculum extension activities in the classroom.
As part of the initiative, earlier this year the CIOB challenged young people to come up with a plan to regenerate a leisure centre, in a competition called “Concept to Construction”.
Teams had to devise a regeneration strategy for an existing centre, while taking into account the different needs and expectations of users, the local council and a conservation group.
The winners were presented with their awards last month in a ceremony at The Lowry in Manchester
The winners were presented with their awards last month in a ceremony at The Lowry in Manchester by Lend Lease operations director Dennis Wilson, who was named CIOB Construction Manager of the Year 2015.
The prize was the opportunity to work-shadow a construction professional, £100 for each member of the winning group and a special prize-giving lunch.
The winner of this year’s challenge was Oakwood Park Grammar School in Maidstone, Kent. Other schools that were highly commended were St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls in London, and Longfield Academy in Darlington.
Bridget Bartlett, deputy chief executive at the CIOB, explained that the competition was aimed at all school-age children, and was a vehicle to encourage and inform them of the various roles available in the construction industry.
“Many young people might think that a job in construction just involves building and a hard hat, but there are so many varied roles available. We are seeking to inspire them as well as promote the industry among the different genders,” she said.
