School kids building a future that’s “Out of This World”
Local primary school pupils have been launching rockets, building chairs and even creating their own orchestra with instruments made from recycled rubbish.
It’s all part of the launch of a new teaching resource aimed at harnessing the enterprising skills of our pupils. The “Out of This World” resource is developed jointly by the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) and ConstructionSkills, the sector skills council for construction.
Cecil Holmes, Officer in charge of Employability at CCEA comments;
“Through this resource children will take part in activities designed to equip them with a ‘can do’ attitude and provide valuable opportunities to improve their self confidence and self esteem. It also supports the revised Northern Ireland Curriculum, in particular, Enterprise as part of Education for Employability.”
Over the next five years it is estimated that 2,620 new employees will be needed every year until to 2010 in order to meet the growing demand created by major projects in Northern Ireland. Research shows that the Northern Ireland workforce currently lacks the skills to exploit these opportunities.
William McMullan, Director of Training Strategy for ConstructionSkills said;
“Most of the factors unconsciously affecting young people’s career choices are in place by the time they are 13 years old. The “Out of this World” resource will create awareness and understanding of construction in Years 6 and 7.
This means when the time comes to make career choices, children will be more informed about the opportunities that exist within the construction industry.
ConstructionSkills is the first Sector Skills Council to work directly with primary schools and will continue with it efforts to engage the younger generation.”
