To celebrate National Apprentice Week, we held a ‘construction careers day’ at Acle Academy with year 9, 10 and 11 students having a go at bricklaying and carpentry – including constructing a house out of wood!
The Lovell team attending on the day included current and past apprentices who have climbed the careers path at Lovell, including Tommy Salmon, who led the bricklaying session and is now contracts manager at Lovell.
Tommy said:
The task was challenging and hands-on, with the students having to build a small wall and I was really impressed. Having a go and experiencing firsthand what a career in the construction industry is like is the best way to inspire this age, teach them skills and show them a potential career path. They absolutely loved it and I had a great time too, especially as I myself joined Lovell as an apprentice so it is brilliant to be able to give back and inspire the next generation. I wish I had these opportunities when I was at school as Lovell pulled out all the stops to inspire the students and deliver the bricks and wood needed for these tasks!
Carpentry was the other activity session that the students at Acle Academy had a go at, taking it in turns to build a house in groups. The sessions taught them the basics of carpentry and introduced them to different tools.
We teamed up with The Wensum Trust last year to tackle the skills and jobs shortage in the construction industry and educate young people about the range of career opportunities in the sector, and provide further opportunities for young people across the region.
Tom Rolfe, Strategic Lead of Secondary at The Wensum Trust said:
The students were a credit to the school and were completely engaged with both the carpentry and bricklaying tasks. The team from Lovell were great and interacted with the students brilliantly. There had clearly been a lot of planning that took place prior to today, which meant that things ran very smoothly. A big thank you to Lovell and this event is the perfect example of our wonderful relationship with Lovell and what we envisaged when we started this partnership.
Sasha Bainbridge, our Partnerships Director, said:
The careers day at Acle Academy was a great success. The students were engaged, interested to learn, asked lots of questions and did a great job completing the tasks. It was a fantastic way to mark National Apprenticeship Week and give them practical skills for the future.
