Building up career knowledge with MCS
Bristol WORKS supported students from Voyage Learning Campus with a practical workshop led Veda from MCS. The students, who respond particularly well to hands-on activities, were required to work in teams to construct a bridge over a gap between two tables using plastic straws and a range of different connectors. Students had to work collaboratively to listen to each other’s ideas as to what kind of structure would be the strongest, and then together build a bridge which had to hold the weight of multiple books. 
Both the creative and competitive elements of the task motivated students to design and build an interesting variety of bridges. Some students opted to construct more of an artistic design involving non-conventional shapes within the bridge, but ensuring that it was aesthetically pleasing, others decided to construct their bridge using engineering approaches to include as many triangle shapes to ensure it had as much structural integrity as possible.
On completion of this task, and before testing which bridge had won the challenge, students were offered an opportunity to reflect on their preferred learning styles at school, and consequently which kind of job role they might be interested to do in the future. A number of students had existing interests in the construction industry so learning about MCS and what a job with them would entail, was insightful.
Veda shared examples of the projects MCS had worked on. She also offered an insight into the variety of careers that exist within the organisation. Apprenticeship routes were of particular interest to students both from the practical aspect of the learning, but also the opportunity to earn money whilst learning. Students asked questions relating to how they could apply for these schemes, and how much they could expect to earn on completion.
One of the teaching staff from Voyage Learning Campus thought experiences such as these were particularly important because they offer tangible and realistic routes for students to imagine themselves following. Another member of staff having seen how well their students worked with practical activities, thought instigating the workshop with a building challenge was a great way to get the students engaged and subsequently open them up to hearing more about the connection between the task and possible careers.
The bridges were all tested to see which could hold the most weight. All of them managed at least 2 books, and the winner even held 6. When departing, a number of the students shared how much they valued learning about apprenticeships and noted that this pathway was not one they had heard about before. Another student commented on appreciating learning about the range of careers available in just one organisation, and was excited to hear about these as they already had an interest in working in the construction industry.
