Harrison College students turn into engineers and conservationists
Autistic students create outdoor area for primary children in Doncaster (doncasterfreepress.co.uk)
College students and staff have joined forces with Richmond Hill Primary Academy for their annual Community Action Project. This will be the third project that the multi award winning career development college have completed in the City of Doncaster.
Harrison College prioritises preparation for employment within their study programme and the Community Action Project brings together many of the skills that they have learnt including leadership, teamwork and problem solving.
During the week, 20 students descended upon Richmond Hill Primary Academy in Sprotbrough to transform an outdoor space to create an outdoor learning environment that would engage and inspire key stage 1 children. The students were supported by the staff team from Harrison College along with volunteers from TCV, Lucy Smith from CAF Rail, Pippa Mell from Applaud BC and Steve Dixon. Jason Chatwin at LAC Shop Fitting supported the students with project management and health and safety.
Ardagh Group sponsored the project, which will continue to run in the new academic year and will contribute to the students achieving their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.
James Grant, Plant Director at Ardagh Group visited the project during the week and commented: “It is absolutely fantastic to see that our sponsorship and engagement with Harrison College has been so worthwhile and it is promoting outdoor learning and supporting the school ethos.”
Students arrived at an overgrown expanse of unused field and were tasked with a range of small projects that they had to plan and manage to ensure that the vision was delivered upon. Amongst the projects that were being delivered on included a mud kitchen, music board, pond, seating area firepit and entrance steps,.
Students learnt how to use tool safely and recycled materials such as used pallets into a mud kitchen and seating. They used their functional maths skills to measure and design the products, maximising upon the materials that had been donated by Doncaster’s business community.
Mike Peebles, Chief Commercial Officer “The annual community action project is an important part of preparing our students for the world of work as they are working for a client and delivering on a clear project brief. None of the work would be possible without the fantastic support we received from local businesses, their response has been overwhelming positive and all the team at Harrison College thank them.”
Materials and resources were donated by Barratt Homes, Simplas PVC Recycling, Johnston Paints, Twisted Knot, Dudley and Sons Roofing and Walkers Nurseries.
Kelly Cousins, Head of School at Richmond Hill Primary Academy said, “Our work with Harrison college has absolutely transformed our forest school provision. We are absolutely thrilled with the result; we are so appreciative. The students are a credit to the college. We have plans and space for more projects, so we look forward to our partnership continuing next academic year. Thank you from everyone at RHPA! We look forward to working with you in the future.”
At Harrison College the curriculum is employer led and is based around real life business projects, much like the one completed at Richmond Hill Primary Academy. Harrison College are always on the look out for businesses to pose challenges and projects for the students to solve therefore if you are interested in being part of the next group of projects please contact Mike Peebles, Chief Commercial Officer mpeebles@harrisoncollege.co.uk