A site visit for the plumbing department

This week the construction department was given the opportunity to visit a Keepmoat housing development in Barnsley. 14 students from Barnsley College who are currently studying towards a level 1 Plumbing Diploma got to experience what it is like to be on a real construction site.

Katie Stafford the Social Value Manager and the Site Manager, Jamie Ellis, introduced Keepmoat and what the development was for. An H&S briefing was carried out and information on apprenticeships and development opportunities was also passed on to the students.

The Site Manager took the students around the site and into some of the houses allowing them to see the different fixing stages when building a house.

The students were given information that related to their actual course such as plumbing installations, the job roles of people working on the site, the site programme and scheduling, H&S, Quality standards that everyone works to, Inspections that take place, the importance of housekeeping and the potential earnings in the industry.

The site visit was invaluable as many of the students have not yet had the opportunity to see a live site and this visit gave them a better understanding by putting the training they have received in college and seeing it in a real environment.

All the students and staff really enjoyed the visit and can’t thank Keepmoat enough for the visit and the opportunity they have given two further students from Barnsley College to undertake a placement on the site in Athersley.

Employers needed for Work Experience Placements

The construction department at Barnsley College are always looking for employers that can offer a valuable placement opportunity to our full time students.

 

Work experience has become part of the study programme for all young people attending college full time. It gives them a real insight into what the job they are training to do is like and also prepares them for work in general – timekeeping, presentation, communication, responsibility and hard work.  

We are always looking for new ideas on how to give our students work related experience and find the following to be most beneficial to employers:

-          Two week block - students participate for 2 weeks on dates pre-arranged with the college

-          One day a week – This can help companies who already have apprentices and have to attend college one day a week to complete their technical certificates. You could cover this day with a student on work experience.

-          Apprenticeship trials – if you are thinking of recruiting an apprentice then work experience is a great way to trial students before actually making that commitment to employ them.

If you would like to be involved in supporting young people in construction please contact myself Nicola Barratt on 07824 607 088 or n.barratt@barnsley.ac.uk