Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage is set to open the second day of the prestigious i-Construct event at Fareham College’s Civil Engineering Training Centre (CETC) on Friday 18 October at 8.45am The aim of the event is to inform and inspire young people about careers in construction.
Year 7 to Year 11 pupils will be coming from over 40 schools across southern Hampshire on Thursday 17 October and Friday 18 October. They will be participating in a ‘Dragons Den’ style construction challenge. Last year pupils were tasked with developing a new Nightingale Hospital as a result of a large sinkhole next to an existing hospital. Each student works as part of a team, firstly interviewing construction experts for potential ideas and job roles required, then finally presenting their ideas to a panel of experts.
Students’ presentations will be judged, and the best presentations will win awards from different categories including: ‘Best Presentation,’ ‘Best Effort,’ ‘Best Research’ and ‘Best Teamwork.’ All the awards are individually sponsored by participating construction companies including Selwood Pump Solutions, Blanchard Wells, Morgan Sindall Construction and Knights Brown.
To complement the main challenge, students will be introduced to more than 200 job roles, as well as a range of educational pathways, including further and higher education, apprenticeships and T levels. They will also have the opportunity to try out technical equipment, including transport simulators, excavators, drones and virtual reality (VR) applications.
The event, supported by the Solent and Hampshire Careers Hubs, supports the connection between industry and education. Many students forge strong relationships with participating construction companies and some students even leave with valuable job offers on completion of their GCSE’s.
Jason Woodward, SHEQ Manager at PT Contractors, who is project managing the event, said:
“i-Construct is a fantastic opportunity for our young people to learn about the breadth of roles and career opportunities on offer within the construction industry to bridge its current skills gap.
It is important to give the next generation a real feel and excitement about this rewarding industry. It is very much a hands-on event and showcases the variety of openings available to everyone from all abilities with our local companies.”
