FROM VISION TO REALITY
How we helped to launch GCSE construction for the school
King Henry VIII 3-19 School in Abergavenny is a £61 million development that will see a brand new all-through school replace the existing facility.
The 1,900 place campus will include an additional learning centre, flying start early learning centre and extensive sports provisions. The Net Zero Carbon school is being delivered through the SEWSCAP framework and will be complete in 2025.
Read more on the projects dedicated microsite
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As part the vision to create a positive impact beyond the boundaries of the project, a detailed social value plan was developed in collaboration with the client team.
It was during this time, that an exciting partnership opportunity emerged.
For some time, the school, along with Monmouthshire County Council, were looking at ways to expand their curriculum, particularly in relation to STEM - part of this was a vision to launch a dedicated GCSE construction course.
GeorgieSocial Value Advisor
Over the years, the school had been held back by the cost of new equipment, and so the launch of a dedicated course would still be a few years in the making.
This provided the perfect opportunity to accelerate the launch and with the support of our supply chain family, we donated PPE, construction safety aprons and over £5,000 worth of tools and equipment to enable the course to begin in September 2023.
Jordan (Head of D&T)
Morgan Sindall coming in and wanting to help launch our GCSE construction course has been fantastic. They’ve helped provide equipment for all the students – tools we wouldn’t have been able to start the course without. They’re providing master classes, health and safety talks and vouchers to help us continue to buy the equipment we need. So to have that support and backing has massively leapfrogged us forward. It’s amazing.
But the key thing for us was to support way beyond this too.
Over and above the financial support (which continues with providing Screwfix and Amazon vouchers to help fund more tools and equipment throughout the course).
We are also hosting a programme of masterclasses where students are able to come to site and undertake specialist bricklaying, carpentry, electrical or plumbing tasks in line with their curriculum. In addition, we are bringing the students into our Knowledge Quad on site to host career talks, mentoring workshops and wider sessions about some of the non-trade roles within the industry, where they can head into our site cabins and out on site to get a hands on view on what operational, commercial and design roles are available in the industry as well.
Jonathan (Headteacher)
It’s really important that what we teach, links to what children want to do and what they see in their lives. For them to go out into the real world and meet people who have these careers and to really be engaged in the master classes of those careers just makes a real difference. It inspires, it motivates and it leads to greater progress – it means the children leave us with a better idea of their next steps which is absolutely brilliant.
With the project on site until 2025, it is providing the perfect opportunity to showcase the cradle to grave journey of an entire construction project that is plugging directly into their curriculum.
The sponsorship will last for an initial two years, and the team have already delivered three site visits, one careers workshop, two quality workshops and have a specialist masterclass very soon.
Over the course of the partnership, the programme of sessions will align with the needs of the students and the modules they are studying - for example, when the carpentry modules are being taught in the school, a special masterclass with our carpentry subcontractors will be arranged on the construction site.
Tim Education Advisor
What this course will do for that group of young people, we don't know yet, but what we do know is that it's inspiring them. What I know is this is just the start of a relationship. When I had the opportunity to meet with Morgan Sindall and their supply chain, it was very clear they were talking about the next decade, not the next year. And that means that when we're all gone from this and the school is up, then there is the legacy that Morgan Sindall have set up now, which will continue for the young people and will live with them.
