News & Events
STUDENTS LEARN WORKPLACE SKILLS WITH BURNLEY BSF TEAM
20 January 2010
"Students with Burnley BSF Team"
Fifteen year 11 students at Marsden Heights Community College have just gained a week’s work experience learning some of the key skills required to bid for and win a major construction project.
The training was provided by Lend Lease, Lancashire County Council’s private sector partner for its £250 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Marsden Heights is a new BSF school, due to open in spring 2010, and for added authenticity the students spent their week in the site offices at Blessed Trinity, another BSF school, which opens next September.
“Why Lend Lease should build your new school” was the challenge set for the students and over the course of five days they were given coaching and advice on how to put together a winning bid.
The coaching included CV writing and presentation skills and the students, working in three groups of five, also had the chance to interview Lend Lease managers who helped them prepare the material needed for their bid presentations.
Their hard work was all put to the test on the final day, when each group had to make a seven minute presentation to a panel that included senior management from Catalyst Lend Lease, facilities management company Vita Lend Lease and construction partner Bovis Lend Lease. The winning team earned £50 worth of retail vouchers as a prize for their efforts, which were judged as “outstanding” by the panel.
“This was our first work experience programme of this type and we wanted to give the students an accurate insight into our business so they could grasp what it would be like working for a company like ours. Everyone seemed to get a lot out of it – students and coaches alike,” said Simi Gandhi, Lend Lease’s Community Development Manager for the Lancashire BSF.
“The students took a real interest in the challenges facing them over the five days and their presentations showed they had grasped a lot of the important factors that can make for a winning bid. We look forward to extending the scheme to other local BSF schools in the future,” said Simi.
School staff who attended the final day’s presentations were impressed with the transformation in some of the students and how confident they were.
Anne Chew, the school’s careers coordinator, said: “The skills the students have gained will be invaluable for their futures. I cannot praise Lend Lease enough for all the effort that went into making the week a success.”
The work experience programme is just one of many activities Lend Lease is organising to support young people and communities in East Lancashire. The company has a three-year partnership with Marsden Heights Community College through one of the Prince of Wales’s charities, BitC, and its Business Class programme linking private sector partners with local schools.
Press enquiries:
Andrew Bond
Catalyst Lend Lease
020 7182 9397
