How do you make virtual work experience inclusive and engaging?

Collaboration is key and this year’s three-day work experience for 40+ students through the fantastic charity Speakers for Schools was a whistle-stop tour of the built environment sector.

In total 18 internal and external specialists shared their knowledge and experience with the students. We know that at 17 you may not know the breadth of career opportunities in this sector, so we shared the platform with:

• Developers #FEC
• Engineers #HTA (Heyne Tillett Steel)
• Wellbeing experts #Ekkist
• Landscape Designers #Macgregorsmith
• Contractors #Kier

These collaborators helped us to deliver a series of talks on the subjects of; masterplanning, developing sites, concept design, designing for wellbeing, engineering, technical design, landscape design, construction and sustainability.

We set collaborative and individual design tasks each day so that the students had the opportunity to practice the skills in design, collaboration and communication needed in this industry and start to build a portfolio and knowledge to support future applications for work or college.

By partnering with the charity Speakers for Schools, we supported their mission to level the playing field for 11-19-year-olds from state schools and colleges. The charity provide work experience placements and inspirational talks typically accessible only to students from top independent schools.

Many thanks to our 3DReid team:

James Sheldrake, Eniola Sonusi, Neil de Prez, Claire Hawkins, Annalisa Palo, Tom Robinson, Thelma Mannion, Helen Higgins, Nicolle Cairney, Kiran Shah & Izzy Watson who designed and hosted the event.

And our collaborators:

Speakers for Schools – Dale Smith & Lucy O’Sullivan
FEC – Elizabeth Summers & Nicholas Hayden-Skinner
Macgregor Smith – Gemma Griffin
Heyne Tillett Steel – Kaily Fox & Georgina Taylor
Ekkist – Ben Channon
Kier – Lucy WiItshire