Building for the future at Chelmsford high school

Construction students at Chelmer Valley High School have been learning about how they could make a tangible impact on the industry.

Rob Ashe, Contracts Manager at Essex region, gave students a presentation on building a career in construction as part of their GCSE course, sharing his experience of working on site as a carpenter and his journey to his current management role.

He spoke to Year 11 students who will be completing their GCSE in Construction and the Built Environment this summer, just one of the many vocational courses available at the Chelmsford high school.

Persimmon awarded the school a £1,000 donation to support the course and enable the school to purchase additional tools for future students joining the course.

Rob Ashe, Contracts Manager at Essex region, said: “I hope today has helped inspire some of our future construction workers and we will see the enthusiastic students working on our sites in years to come.

“There are many paths into the industry and a range of opportunities, whichever trade they chose to learn. Working in construction is a life-long learning experience, it is in an industry in which you can continuously develop and grow. With the ever-increasing demand for new homes, there will always be a job for those who do decide to go into the industry.”

Gareth Nolan, Head of Vocational Studies at CVHS, said: “We were thrilled to be chosen for Persimmons Homes to receive one of their Community Champions grants to support our vocational learning programme. The funds will be instrumental this year in supporting our growing provision of construction.

“The funds provided by Persimmon will give students the opportunity to learn with high-quality building equipment in a safe, realistic construction environment. With over 50 students currently undertaking the Level 2 in construction it can be an expensive course to implement and these funds are enabling our school to provide the students with their first insight into the construction industry.”

Chelmsford City Council members Cllr Philip Wilson and Cllr Mike Steel joined the presentation before touring the vocational studies area of the school.

Cllr Steel said: “There is a growing demand, especially in Chelmsford, where we are building around 1,000 homes each year as well as the infrastructure and community facilities needed to support those new communities. We need to make sure we have a future workforce with the right skills needed to ensure that growth continues, and Persimmon are supporting the school in building the foundations for that.”

Cllr Wilson added: “We will always need more workers within the industry and today Persimmon Homes have helped share an insight into the vast range of career opportunities and paths within construction. It has been a pleasure to see them inspire the students and to see the great work the school has been doing in introducing these career options to the students at this early stage.”