Young Apprentices Build Bungalows!
1 – 5 February 2010 was national Apprenticeship Week, and students on the Young Apprenticeship Programme in Walsall College’s Construction department celebrated in style, with the completion of their Build a Bungalow challenge.
Apprenticeship Week, which is organised by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), is designed to celebrate the talents and skills of apprentices.
Over a period of just a few weeks, students have been creating the 2×2m timber frame construction, using the full range of skills they have developed on their courses, including carpentry, brickwork and roofing. The apprentices have had to do all the work themselves, including building the frame, wrapping the brickwork around it and creating the roof.
The students come from St Francis of Assisi CTC and Shelfield Comprehensive School and are currently undertaking the Young Apprenticeship Programme with the College, equivalent to 4 GCSEs at grades A*- C. This involves gaining vocational skills by attending Walsall College and workplaces one day per week, in addition to their normal school work.
Curriculum Manager for Built Environment and Digital Engineering at Walsall College, Andy Lees said: “The Young Apprenticeship Programme is an excellent way to introduce vocational learning to school pupils and enable them to develop skills that will be required of them in the world of work.
“The bungalow challenge has allowed students to tie all the skills they have learned in carpentry, brickwork and roofing in one large project. Completing the project during Apprenticeship Week is a fitting way to celebrate the talent and vocational skills students develop through an Apprenticeship”.
Young Apprentice, Dominic McKiernan (16) added: “I have really enjoyed the Build a Bungalow Project and the Young Apprenticeship Programme in general. It’s a lot different to school; this is much more vocational and hands on. I have enjoyed learning how to make things for myself and I would like to do a practical job in the future”.
