• School/College/Business: Wayland Academy and Persimmon Homes Plc
• Topic: Construction mentoring programme
• Gatsby Benchmark(s): 4, 5 and 6
Wayland Academy in Watton have recently been matched with an Enterprise
Adviser (EA) from Persimmon Homes Plc. Following the initial meeting the
Careers Leader and EA were keen to utilise the skills and knowledge that this partnership could offer.
It was decided that a mentoring project for a group of year 10 students with an interest in
construction would be a great place to start.
The project consists of monthly sessions in which the EA meets with the group to work through a
programme covering all aspects of construction. Sessions have so far covered all the different job
roles available in the industry from trades and engineering to customer service and marketing, as
well as learning about all the stages involved in a house build. Alongside industry specific learning
the sessions have also required the students to apply their learning from school subjects including
geography, science and maths. A really good example of this was looking at the different types of
ground that houses are built on; students were required to identify and discuss the properties of
different soils.
“The students are really enjoying the sessions and they are getting a lot out of each one. The
sessions are also highlighting the importance of their school subjects as they have been able to apply
these to real work situations.”
For further details, please contact Ashley Ruthven, [email protected]