'A Day in Industry' with Mott Macdonald and Better Barnsley

On Monday 9^th May 2016 a class of Barnsley College students were lucky enough to be invited to attend ‘a day in industry’ organised by Sarah McHale of BMBC and James Kirkham of Mott Macdonald. The event was planned to give the students an insight into the design and construction industry using a live project on the Better Barnsley Development.

 

The new May Day Green Market which is currently being developed in Barnsley Town Centre was the ideal example to demonstrate the work underway whilst also linking to the students current college work.

The day included a visit to Mott MacDonald’s office in Sheffield where we were presented with information from the project manager, structural engineer and designer. We were shown the processes and software using Revit to create the drawings and specifications of the structure that will carry the loading of the new build.

We then visited Billington Steel’s design office where we were shown how they created the junctions between beams, columns and braces with AutoCAD before being sent to the programming department for cutting and drilling.

 

We was given a tour of the fabrication shop in Wombwell. Here we saw where the deliveries are processed, stamping, cutting, drilling, welding and fabrication, jet blasting and painting of the steel before grouping together ready for despatch and transportation to site.

The group then moved to the actual site of the structure itself in Barnsley town centre which is currently managed by De Boer. Here they got to see and fully visualise the design they had seen from the start of the day.

      

The day proved to be an invaluable experience for the 1st year students on the Construction in the Built Environment Course at Barnsley College. To see a structure being designed, fabricated and constructed on site isn't something people are usually fortunate enough to see.  They now look forward to seeing the May Day Green Market fully constructed at the end of the project.  

 

 

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 

Lord David Blunkett Opens Barnsley college's new Construction Centre (The CUBE)

Lord David Blunkett officially opened Barnsley College’s new Construction Centre, also known as the CUBE, in a ribbon cutting ceremony on 11 March 2016.

The grand opening began with a welcome by the Principal of Barnsley College, Christopher Webb, followed by a speech from Lord David Blunkett who spoke about memories of his time as a tutor at the college. The new £10.8m building was then officially opened in a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of a plaque which was also translated into Braille.

Guests included The Mayor of Barnsley Councillor Brian Mathers, Michael Dugher MP, Dan Jarvis MP, Dickie Bird and representatives from Bond Bryan Architects and BAM Construction who were involved with design and build of new Centre. Visitors were invited to see the excellent facilities, workshops and specialist equipment for courses offered at the Centre in Bricklaying, Carpentry and Joinery, Dry Lining, Painting and Decorating, Plastering, Wall and Floor Tiling and Professional Studies.

The college’s Construction students provided demonstrations and guests, including Lord Blunkett, had the opportunity to speak to them to find out how the new centre is helping to equip them with the necessary skills required for a successful career within the construction industry.

Barnsley College Principal Christopher Webb said: “We would like to thank Lord David Blunkett for coming along to officially open our new site. It was an excellent way to mark the new chapter for our Construction students.

“With a projected skills shortage in the Construction industries this is the perfect time for Barnsley College to invest in construction education. The new building houses some fantastic industry specialist facilities in order to provide our students with as much ‘real life’ experience as possible. It offers education in all the necessary skills so that our students can really build on their construction careers.”

For more information on Construction courses at Barnsley College call 01226 216 123 or email info@barnsley.ac.uk.

Pacy & Wheatley Site Visit

Barnsley College Construction students were invited by Pacy & Wheatley Construction to visit their site in Cudworth and tour their current build project.

Pacy & Wheatley are a highly respected construction company for the Healthcare, Education & Commercial arenas, they are based in Doncaster and have been established since 1968.

Students were inducted to the site before being presented with information about the company, the team and the actual project before going on a tour of the whole site.

The students were shown around by the Construction Manager - Joe Ridgeway and the Site Manager Keith Gill.  It was very informative and the whole project was explained from the beginning with the different processes involved in the extension and refurbishment of the existing building. The staff and students were asking questions during the tour and it gave them a great insight of the project and the tasks involved.

The students are currently working on a project unit as part of their programme so the site visit gave them all a better understanding of the tasks and sequences involved in a project like this and also to find out about problems that may occur on site and how these can be resolved to meet the client’s and the builder’s requirements.

The project also relates to the conversion unit the students cover so the refurbishment was ideal for them to see and learn more about.

 

Finding a placement for your work experience

Most job applications will ask what experience you have, so your search needs to begin now to find yourself a work placement. Its a great place to start on the path to getting your dream job.

By researching employers on the internet that offer the type of work you are interested in will also help you decide what job role will suit you the most.

So how do you go about getting work experience?

• Ask your friends
• Use search engines, careers services and specialist work placement websites
• Apply as soon as the position opens. If you’re approaching a company for experience rather than applying for a formal work placement, get in touch well before you want to start
• Adapt your CV and application for every placement you apply for
• Find out if the industry you want to get into has any big events coming up that you can go to. For example, CEOs often speak at events that are open to the public. This is a great way to meet other people in the industry and get some contacts
• Always apply for lots of placements at the same time rather than putting all your eggs in one basket
• Be creative and pro-active. Call people instead of sending emails, find an individual to speak to and spend time on your application to make it interesting.

Use these tips to help you find a suitable placement opportunity and make sure you talk to the college work placement officer Nicola Barratt via email: n.barratt@barnsley.ac.uk or contact 07824607088

Tutorial and Enterprise days - January & February 2016

On the 26th of January 2016 the Construction department held a ‘Healthy New Year Tutorial Day’, where we encouraged the students to examine their own health and encourage them to lead healthier lives. 

 

We invited a range of guest speakers to the CUBE to undertake various activities to promote healthier lifestyles including:

• Sexual Health- the Health & Wellbeing team were on hand to give advice on contraception and STIs. 
• Disability - the Sports department spent the morning in the atrium allowing students to try manoeuvring wheel chairs during a basketball exercise to raise awareness of how difficult it was for disabled people to get around.
• Drugs & Alcohol- the students also attended a tutorial with B-Chilled who were discussing drugs, alcohol and legal highs with the students.

Here are a few photos from the event:

 

 

 

 

 

Two weeks later on the 2nd February 2016 the department held an Enterprise afternoon. 

Dagogo Kinigoma from the Enterprise team came to the CUBE to deliver a series of sessions for our learners about life after college. The workshops were very informative and helped to raise the aspirations of all who attended.

The Enterprise team can be found for advice and guidance in the main college building on Old Mill Lane if any students would like to find out more about starting their own businesses or taking part in Enterprising projects.

 

The Construction department would like to thank all the outside agencies who came in to deliver these workshops and services. You contribution to our tutorial programme is greatly appreciated and we hope our students benefit from your expert instruction.

Thanks!

 

Students on work experience with VHE Construction

Continuing our long standing commitment to providing work experience and vocational opportunities to students, VHE were pleased to recently welcome two Work Placement Students from Barnsley College, Lloyd Gough and Ben Turner. Both spent time with VHE site teams in January where they gained some first-hand experience of working on a construction site.

Lloyd spent his two week placement at our remediation project at North Gawber Colliery in Barnsley, a site proposed for over 300 residential properties by developer Harworth Estates. Similarly, Ben spent two weeks onsite at our remediation and infrastructure scheme in Ackworth which is now VHE’s third phase of works at the site on behalf of client Strata Homes.

Both placements have been a huge success with Nicola Barratt, Work Placement Officer at Barnsley College commenting:

“The work experience programme has given the students a real experience of a construction site and helps prepare them for future employment. The placements are invaluable to young people as they help shape their perception of work and raise their career aspirations.

The students Ben & Lloyd both thoroughly enjoyed their placements with VHE. They were involved in a variety of tasks on site and given the chance to work with people in different roles in order to see how a site works and what is involved in projects like these.

Barnsley College fully appreciates the support from VHE Construction and encourages all employers to consider offering opportunities like this to the future workforce.”

VHE would like to thank both students for their efforts and wish them all the best for their careers in the future.