ICE North East has helped youngsters at a Middlesbrough school to bridge the learning gap and find out about careers in engineering. ICE North East, assisted by the Environment Agency, took its 15 metre scaled model cable-stayed bridge to St Peter’s Catholic College in Southbank, where almost 200 students from several of its feeder primary schools worked with representatives from the Institution to assemble the structure.
The bridge is used to give young people an insight into one aspect of civil engineering and allows pupils direct contact with professionals who can help them to understand more about the careers available.
Mrs Pam Hanrahan, Headteacher, St Peter's Catholic College said: “Hosting "the bridge" at St Peter's Catholic College gave us the opportunity to invite our primary partners to learn in a fun exciting way. Building this huge model together challenged all the pupils-secondary and primary side by side, to work as teams, using their varied skills and intuition whilst boosting their confidence. It was an absolute pleasure to see them all having such a great time learning.”
Pauline Vipond, who co-ordinates school activities on behalf of ICE North East, said: “One of the key roles of the Institution of Civil Engineers is to encourage more people to consider pursuing careers in the industry. One of the best ways to do this is to get into schools and engage with young people at an early age. The more informed young people are about a career path, the more likely they are to consider it as an option.”
The Environment Agency has been transporting the bridge on behalf of ICE North East, enabling more young people to engage with the civil engineering mentors.
Gerald Lee, of the Environment Agency, said: “It is vital that employers engage with, and educate, young people about what careers are available to them. Civil engineering is vital to the way the world works, but young people will never aspire for a career in the sector if they have no understanding of what it entails. That makes activities such as this carry huge importance for the pupils and the environment alike.”
Image above: Simon Bell (teacher, St Peter’s Catholic College), Eve Fitzgerald (pupil, Normanby Primary School), Andrew Drage (teacher, Normanby Primary School) Edward Cochrane (pupil, Normanby Primary School) and Pauline Vipond (ICE)