Pupils on the apprenticeship pilot scheme had an introduction session on a national competition they will be taking part in. Their task is to plan and create a school with futuristic features, which will be innovative and sustainable. Some of the ideas included harvesting rainwater, to reuse for the toilet flushing system at their school, providing laptops and iPads to all pupils so it could be a paper-free school.
The pupils were grouped into teams to work on their project. The team that wins will be flown out to Dubai by Atkins Realis to present their concept school to several stakeholders such as architects, engineers, and senior leaders at the organisation.
Atkins Realis will also be offering all the pupils a work placement in July. If pupils decide to apply for any of the apprenticeships with the company, they will be personally recommended by the enterprise and social value department, which means their application will be prioritised over others, which is such a huge and incredibly beneficial advancement.
One of our pupils’ reflections of the visit:
When we first arrived at our visit, we were taken upstairs into the office. The programme host then introduced us to the company and gave us some basic safety and overview, we were split into groups of 3 and 4 and given to the apprentices, where we went downstairs into the main office and spoke to some of the employees there, the employee that I had spoken to was a project manager named Marie, and she was basically explaining how a project works and a project managers job within the creation and completion of a project. Then we were taken back upstairs and then split into 3 different groups. We were told to begin designing our vision for a "school of the future", we had to ensure that it was sustainable and effective, and we could include our own curriculums, rewards, uniforms, punishments, etc. The winning team in the UK will get the opportunity to go present their ideas and work to the Atkins Realis team in Dubai, which is all paid for by the Dubai branch. If I do correctly remember the competitions deadline is for the 11th of July and then the team that get to present in Dubai are chosen.
As you can see this is such a phenomenal opportunity for our pupils and we are incredibly grateful and appreciative to Atkins Realis for considering our young people.
A big thank you to Atkins Realis for providing such a valuable opportunity for our pupils to enhance their employability skills.
More about Atkins Realis here: https://www.atkinsrealis.com/
More about degree apprenticeships here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships
As part of Character and exploring the big question 'where am I going next?' pupils are given the opportunity to meaningfully engage with employers and apprenticeship providers so they can make well informed decisions about their futures.
For more information and guidance about careers education at Ark St Alban's, you can email careers@arkstalbans.org