Build Studios has been awarded a grant by the Walcot Foundation to expand its innovative careers enrichment programme with the Oasis Academy Southbank. The funding will support the creation of new content for the built environment careers programme, which comprises a weekly session, run over a 6-8 week term for all Year 7 pupils in the school. The children are introduced to a variety of careers through a combination of presentations and visits from different professionals. They also undertake practical tasks, such as creating a mood board and designing in plan. The funding will also help create six new talking-heads style careers profile videos.

The pupils’ work will be displayed at a public exhibition at Build Studios.

Evaluation of the project will be important to assess its impact and inform the development of future schemes. Build Studios volunteers will work with the pupils to develop their own evaluation tool, utilising a device called a ‘Makey-Makey’ that will be used to create a voting tool to assess the impact of the careers advice.

The project will reach at least 250 year 7 pupils over two years through a total of 50 careers sessions. 16 built environment professionals will visit the school to talk to students about their career.