Work placement with Lovell triples in value for Gurjayden

A Walsall College brickwork student has hit the jackpot with his work experience after tripling the amount of time he was due to spend developing his skills on a housing development.

Gurjayden Nagra’s initial five-day placement with Lovell turned into 15 days after he impressed the site team with his work ethic and enthusiasm towards the different jobs he was assigned

The 18-year-old Level 2 student was based at the former Metafin site where 72 residential properties are being built with Midlands’s landlord, whg.

“Spending three weeks understanding exactly how things work on a housing development has given me a lot of confidence,” said Gurjayden.  “I feel I could go on any site now and be ready for a full day’s work.

“Before this, I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect when working in a team with lots of experienced people, or coping in different weather conditions.  It also felt like a huge responsibility to be given jobs to handle on my own.  That’s less of an issue now.”

Gurjayden added: “I’m grateful to Lovell for inviting me to stay on beyond my five days.  I’ve also benefited from spending time with people from other trades besides brickwork.  I feel ready now to take up an Apprenticeship after I’ve finished my course.”

While construction multiskills and brickwork students have undertaken site tours of the Metafin redevelopment, Gurjayden is the first to have completed a work placement here.

Chris Fellows, Assistant Site Manager at Lovell said: “We’re always happy to welcome students on site, especially when they show so much interest in the work taking place and are willing to experience different aspects of the project.

“Gurjayden stood out in particular for his professional manner and the way he asked lots of questions about our project plan and working procedures.  We were also impressed by his health and safety and risk assessment awareness.

“Hopefully his experiences onsite continue to spur him and his classmates into these trades and potentially into progression-based roles such as management.  Skills shortages remain rife across the sector and so by engaging with students on site they can see for themselves the variety of jobs and careers open to them.”