CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES AND BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Richmond School were delighted to host a “Girls Into Construction” careers event recently, combining an inter-school seven-a-side football tournament with a construction industry careers fair.
Created and sponsored by Henry Boot, the event was designed to support female students in understanding the huge variety of roles within the industry, learning about different career paths including apprenticeships and graduate roles and hearing from employers and employees directly.
Jason Thompson, Senior Business Development Manager at Henry Boot Construction Ltd, who first approached the school with the idea for event had this to say following the day: “When I originally put forward the idea of using the huge uptake in girls’ football to address our set task of helping to ‘Combat Industry Stereotypes’ through combining a girls football tournament with a careers in construction event, I didn’t expect the very positive response it got. Many thanks to Ruth Hamer and all involved at Richmond School who helped to turn the idea into a reality. The football tournament was contested in great spirit by each of the schools, but what was most gratifying was the attitude and open mindedness of the girls from all six schools who took the opportunity to engage with the contractors and to learn about the many different career options our industry can offer. We all had some great conversations, particularly around linking subjects the girls like that they might not have thought relevant to roles in the construction industry. For example Art and History for working in Architecture and Design, Geography for working in Planning and how adaptable it can be if your initial subject or career choice doesn’t work out as there are so many other great roles to diversify into.”
Ruth Hamer, Richmond School Careers Adviser said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for girls to learn about the huge variety of different careers in the construction industry. It is vitally important for all young people to feel they have equal opportunities to work within any sector they choose, so when Jason approached us with the idea, it went without saying that we would support the initiative. Hopefully today went a long way to dispelling some of the myths and misconceptions and encouraged the girls to think about pursuing successful careers in the construction industry.
Huge thanks to all the employees from Henry Boot Construction Ltd, T Clarke, Milestone Infrastructure and Tilbury Douglas who volunteered their time to speak to the students today.
Big thanks also to Ellen Atkinson, our Girls Football Development Coordinator for organising a fantastic tournament. Thanks to all the schools who brought their girls teams along and the students themselves for making it such a wonderful event.”
Over 120 girls took part in the event, with SFX, Bedale, Risedale, Northallerton, Richmond and Wensleydale bringing their girls football teams to take part in the tournament. More than 60 additional students from Years 9 and 10 in Richmond School also came along to talk to the employers in the afternoon.
Congratulations to Northallerton School who took away the winners trophy, with Richmond coming a close second, narrowly taking this from SFX on goal difference. Risedale were worthy winners of the Team of the Day trophy with all referees agreeing that they played with great spirit and enthusiasm.
Henry Boot Construction Ltd also reported about the event on their website, at the link below: