On task and on message

The UK Department for Education has just published its ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper whose measures “…will put an end to the illusion that a degree is the only route to success and a good job” and “supercharge further and technical education, realigning the whole system around the needs of employers”…”in sectors the economy needs, including construction, digital, clean energy and manufacturing.”

In the most challenging of times, the paper reaffirms the need for greater collaboration between industry and education if we are to improve young people’s career prospects. 

A reminder for those who need it, Class Of Your Own (“COYO”) was established in 2009 to once and for all improve the status of the Construction industry, driving it to the top of the list of aspirational career destinations by innovating secondary and tertiary STEM education and enabling the next generation to have a voice in a greener, more equitable future.

People and planet

Even as a micro SME, we have quietly gone about our business, putting young people and their planet ahead of politics. COYO continues at the forefront of upskilling and training, bringing some of the most progressive, globally-respected organisations right into the classroom, physically and virtually, to ensure teachers and trainers have the confidence and skills to open up high quality pathways for their learners.

Our award-winning Design Engineer Construct! (“DEC”) Learning Programme was created and developed by industry professionals with the support of leading academics, ensuring that content and context runs in parallel with the future needs of a digital and highly sustainable built environment. 

DEC: a level playing field

All this from 11 years old where DEC is a level playing field, providing all learners with a fair and equal chance to explore, get creative, be inspired and follow a exciting and broad curriculum that enables them to gain the knowledge and skills that lead to high quality jobs. No pigeon-holing, no labelling, nothing to lose and everything to gain.

But let’s face it, the Built Environment is for everyone, not just school-age leavers. It’s an industry where universal, transferable skills are welcomed with open arms. The stars align here too for just last month, the government also announced the Lifetime Skills Guarantee (LSG) scheme, enabling tens of thousands of adults without an A-level or equivalent to benefit from nearly 400 fully-funded courses from April 2021. My post celebrating the news that our DEC Level 3 is included in the LSG scheme has proved popular, so far having nearly 7000 views (our dedicated partner Awarding Organisation TQUK will be happy to discuss your needs!).

I note measures include launching a nationwide FE recruitment campaign and investing in high quality professional development. I might add that one of the outputs of our 2016 ‘BIM4Education’ programme to develop world-class ‘Built Environment Specialist Trainers’ resulted in a training programme and Level 4 qualification that provided industry professionals with an entry point to further education. It is still available Mr Williamson…do give me a call…

Start with the end in mind

A White Paper that sets out to give young people the best start in their working life is to be welcomed, but I fear the starting point of 16 years old is just too late. If the end point is to “plug the gaps in sectors that are critical to our future success”, then young people need to know their options, especially now schools in England have to meet Gatsby Benchmarks. Our DEC Awards are a great start for secondary and FE students and each comes with a work experience programme…office based and virtual. 

As if all the above isn’t good enough, our virtual work experiences meet the DfE’s T Level ‘work taster’ activities that can be counted towards students’ total number of placement hours:

• they are 30 hours of structured, industry-specific tasks
• they result in an accredited certificate only on production of a portfolio that meets industry standards
• they are delivered in conjunction with the employer(s) and college/sixth form/training provider
• they give students an excellent, real-world opportunity to experience and gain a better understanding of the modern, digital industry that better enables them to undertake their placement. 

All in all, Class Of Your Own is on task and on message.

DEC students, and their teachers, are shining lights of what can be, when industry and education join our mission to Educate the Future of Construction. 

A final note from me, as discussed with COYO friend and long-time DEC supporter Peter Hansford, who is helping me coordinate a Future Leaders Advisory Council (more exciting news for our students - another post on that soon…):

“We don’t need to raise the aspiration of our young students – they have aspiration in bucket-loads.

What we do need to do, as an industry, is raise opportunity and realise those aspirations.”

Want to know more? Visit https://designengineerconstruct.com/about-dec/