Trip to the 'Constructionarium'
LEAD ORGANISATION
Progress South Central
ADDITIONAL ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED
Oxford & Cherwell Valley College
PROJECT SUMMARY
One of Progress South Central's most exciting ventures in its first year was to fund the development of an innovative collaboration between one of its partner colleges, Oxford & Cherwell Valley College (OCVC) and the Constructionarium at the National Construction College East in Norfolk.
'Constructionarium' is a unique hands-on construction experience for students and young professionals. It takes the form of a week-long field course which is usually delivered through the partnership of a contractor, a university and a consultant. Over the course of the week, students construct scaled-down versions of one of a number of projects which have been chosen by the university. Projects available include the Ravenspurn Oil Platform, which is constructed in dry dock, and then floated into and secured in the middle of a lake, the Millau cable bridge, and a 40ft replica of 30 St Mary Axe in London, otherwise known as the Gherkin. Students are assessed on the final day in terms of budgetary control, methodology and timely completion of their project.
In October 2008, funded by Progress South Central, OCVC sent a small group of Level 3 Built Environment students to participate in a Constructionarium project alongside a group of undergraduate civil engineering students from the University of Greenwich. This was the first time any FE students had attended the Constructionarium and it created a huge amount of interest in the construction education community. The site was visited during the week by Nick Raynsford, MP for Greenwich & Woolwich, who is also President of the Constructionarium.
IMPACT
The course gave the students a fantastic insight into the challenges and opportunities of higher level study in their chosen field, the opportunity to discuss both university life and undergraduate study with current HE students, and the rare experience of working on site with real contractors.
LINK TO MORE INFORMATION