Pupils given life-enriching experiences, thanks to building contractor
CONTRACTOR Henry Brothers has organised a raft of experiences for pupils at Alfreton Park Community Special School as part of the company’s commitment to supporting the school.
Events have ranged from a birds of prey encounter to hands-on brick laying and plastering tutorials.
Henry Brothers Midlands is building a new £13.2 million Alfreton Park Community Special School, which will provide a larger purposebuilt facility for pupils with special needs and replace outdated facilities at the school’s existing site.
During construction phase, Henry Brothers has arranged a string of lifeenriching experiences for the students – including insights into the trades involved in building a new school.
Henry Brothers Midlands managing director Ian Taylor said: “We have been delighted to organise a number of exciting activities to appeal to the youngsters. These have ranged from fun encounters like the birds of prey demonstration to insights into the construction sector, with opportunities for the pupils to have a go at some of the trades involved in building. One or two of them really had an aptitude for brick laying and plastering and we hope it’s given them valuable understanding of a work place environment.” Acting head teacher Josie O’Donnell praised Henry Brothers for its commitment to sharing information about the construction process with the youngsters.
She said: “Henry Brothers made the events onsite as inclusive as possible by providing wheelchair access and giving the pupils excellent experiences in brick laying and plastering. The pupils enjoyed handling the tools and materials and were very excited to be onsite having regularly visited as far as the gate to watch the diggers! It’s been a great opportunity for our young people to experience the world of work and supporting raising aspirations for all young people.”
Emily Carter, operational hub lead for Derbyshire at D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “In Derbyshire, transition to the workplace for young people with additional needs is below the national average, with only 3% of young people entering the workforce (6% nationally). It has been a delight to work in partnership with Henry Brothers and Alfreton Park Community Special School, one of our Derbyshire North Career Hub schools on this inclusive and enthusiastic approach which has enabled some fantastic opportunities for young people at the school and developed the schools careers programme.
“Meaningful engagement and collaboration between employers and education is core to our work at the Careers & Enterprise Company and we look forward to working with Henry Brothers more in the future.”
The new single-storey building is being constructed on a site adjacent to Alfreton Park, known as Highfield Plantation. The old school will be demolished once the site is running.
The new school will feature 12 classrooms, six group rooms, including specialist therapy rooms and soft play areas, and a combined hall and dining area, it will have space for 100 students. It is expected to reopen in early 2022.