Construction Carbon Footprint

On Tuesday the 16th of December the department tried to raise awareness about our collective carbon footprint by encouraging students to collect their rubbish for one day to create this piece of art.

The foot was drawn on 3 plasterboards and the litter was attached to the design throughout the day.

The project was to highlight how massive our collective impact on the environment is and to raise awareness about littering and disposing of waste correctly. The foot is quite impressive and is currently on display in the Plastering unit.

Construction Festive Football Tournament 2014

On Monday the 15th of December 2014, the whole of Construction were invited to take part in the festive football tournament organised by the staff at the Sport's college.

Every area had at least one team to represent them in the tournament and other students were allowed off timetable to spectate if they wished.

The afternoon was very positive, with the teams playing some great football. We were all impressed by the conduct of our students and that they didn't let the weather dampen their spirits.

The overall winners of the event were the TLC team, which was made up of students from Professional studies. They were awarded a Construction shield and can be seen below at the moment of their glory.

Well done to everyone who took part in the event and thanks for making it such an enjoyable tournament.

Wearing a wig for Children in Need

The Construction department has had 2 wig days this week to help raise money for Children in Need. Staff and students were asked to make a donation to the charity and wear either a wig or daft hairstyle while in college.

The department managed to raise £100.50 over the two days and all funds raised are going to a very worthy cause.

Thanks to all who donated and took part!

Remembrance Day 2014

Painting and Decorating students Georgia and Shelby have created a Poppy themed wall to commemorate Remembrance day.

The wall has been decorated with drop pattern paper in a poppy design and embossed anyglypta, which they then painted red. They cut the border themselves and can be seen above wearing their poppies.

The girls are often involved in creating specialist designs and paintings and enjoy the more creative side to the painting and decorating industry.

Construction Celebrates Diwali

Over the last few weeks the Construction department has been focusing attention on the Hindu celebration of Diwali and have been asking the students to create some Diwali themed work. This all came together on Thursday the 23rd of October when we displayed the work in the Atrium, on the actual day of Diwali to show students from other departments what the festival is all about.

The activities began in the Painting and Decorating area, where students where given the opportunity to create traditional images on the walls of the workshop. Students from the Level 1 group took part and made the entrance into the area bright and welcoming.

Once the designs were practised on the walls the most vibrant designs were re-created on wooden boards that could be transported to the Atrium.

The design below has been made using wallpaper that was cut and pasted into shape. The other two were painted and gave to students chance to practise their cutting in skills.

On the day of Diwali we united all the work together to display the efforts of our learners and promote Diwali to students from other departments.

 

The Wall and Floor Tilers worked on a tile mosaic based on a Lotus flower, which is a symbol sacred to Hinduism.  





We created an information board to allow students who were not aware of the festival of Diwali to find out more about the celebration.

We also gave out traditional Indian snacks for people to try, as food is a important aspect of Diwali, with Hindu families enjoying a variety of sweet treats as part of their celebrations.

The Joiners created the arch which is the centre piece of our display, which we decorated with paper lanterns and fairy lights. Diwali is the festival of lights, so Hindu families decorate their homes with lights and candles and they let off fireworks to light up the night.

The students really enjoyed working on the Diwali themed work and have hopefully gained a greater understanding of the festival.

Thanks to everyone who helped create our display.

Jason Whitehead gains a place in the UK Squad for World Skills 2014

Bricklayer Jason Whitehead has successfully earned a place in the UK Squad and is now in training for a potential opportunity to compete in São Paulo, Brazil in the World Skills competition 2015.

Jason has secured his place in the squad after a couple of years of competing at national level in the Skillbuild competition. He has been training tirelessly over the last few months to be shortlisted for World Skills and has had to prove his worth against other apprentices who are also considered the best bricklayers in the country.

The last stage of the shortlisting took place in Northern Ireland and below is a picture of Jason's brickwork model that won him his place in the squad.

  

WorldSkills is the largest international skills competition in the world. It is held every two years, and it sees around 1000 18-25 year olds, from all over the world compete for medals in more than 40 different trades. WorldSkills São Paulo 2015 takes place from 11-16 August, 2015.

 

If you would like more details about the World Skills competition and the UK squad selection, please visit the official website.
 

A new bench and £50 donation for Barnsley Hospice

The Brickwork tutors have recently donated a new bench to Barnsley Hospice.

 

 

The bench has been set in situ by the tutors, who also roofed the wooden frame to allow the residents to enjoy the fresh air in all weathers.

 

 

As well as the bench we have also recently donated £50 to the hospice, which was raised by the plumbing students through the sale of pens. This is a regular donation, with the Plumbers raising similar amounts every academic year.

 

Here is the Thank You letter sent by the Hospice showing their appreciation for the donation.

 

 

The bench and the donation are the departments way of saying thanks to the hospice for all the hard work they do and we hope they enjoy their newest addition to the garden.

 

Barnsley College Construction at Skillbuild 2014

The Construction department would like to say well done to all our students who took part in the Yorkshire and Humber Regional heat of the Skillbuild competition on Tuesday, the 24th of June 2014 at Hull College.

We had some really great results with either a 1st, 2nd or 3rd in all four trades that were entered (Painting & Decorating, Brickwork, Plastering, and Tiling).

Congratulations to Trent Johnson (1st in Junior Brickwork), Alex Whittington, Joe Crossley, Alex Davies (2nd in Tiling), Craig Brook (2nd in Painting & Decorating), Alistair Wood, and Ben Bottomley (3rd in Plastering). You all did great!

Here are a few photographs from the event:



Alex (2nd in Tiling)

Ben Bottomley (3rd in Plastering)

Alistair in P&D

The P&D team

Craig (2nd in Painting & Decorating)

Craig at work

Brickwork team

Alex during the competition

Joe with completed work

Trent working on his model

Trent's completed work