Click here: School of the Future not so far away!

When we set up Class Of Your Own a few years ago, it was in the belief that young people should have access to the same tools they would use when they leave school, and that, through project based study, the subjects of design, engineering and construction could not only offer an insight to exciting career opportunities, but also help them to recognise ways to address sustainability issues by looking at the way they live their lives and the buildings they inhabit. It’s not been easy. Even naming our new KS3 curriculum gave us problems, and indeed the platform by which to deliver these subjects had its own challenges. “Don’t make this a BTEC – our kids are academic…” Oops. We happen to like the BTEC and its vocational  style. Much more useful to an employer? Well, possibly…. and after all, is it so wrong to have a little fun and flexibility before joining academia?

So my visit to  the Advanced Technologies Academy in Las Vegas was a breath of fresh air. Here, students from 16 years old are introduced to the same modern day drawing tools which we are encouraging UK teachers to adopt in Design and Technology classes. To quote from the school profile document “The faculty members of the academy are trained in and are representative of the field(s) in which they teach. Additional training and enhancement are provided for academy faculty in all facets of computer hardware, software, and networking technology. The integrated academic and career computer-enhanced curriculum prepares students for entrance into post-secondary education and/or provides skills for a successful school-to-career transition. With a student/teacher ratio of 22·1, our curriculum ensures that a student is not only knowledgeable in theory but also experienced through hands-on, highly individualised learning techniques… Creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, skill expansion, and project-based learning are encouraged in all subject areas.” Sounds great, doesn’t it?

The drawings you see here are those of a 17 year old. Yes. SEVENTEEN. Starting with sketches and transferring these to Autodesk Revit software, these kids are producing work worthy of a third year University student. Go into a typical classroom and these girls and boys are normal, happy students from a wide range of backgrounds, listening to Coldplay, Adele and Usher pumping into the classroom courtesy of inspiring teacher Richard Knoeppel. They are chilled out, courteous and friendly and obviously enjoying themselves. They are, it seems for the most part, left to their own devices, helping each other to work through their problems. Learning rather than being ‘taught’.

Richard is keen to link his students with ours as older mentors. We can’t wait. Gradually we’re seeing a sea change in education with the introduction of University Technical Colleges and specialisms in construction and engineering. We’ve seen teachers absolutely fanatical about rendering their buildings (Mr Robinson), and students as young as 13 demonstrating their knowledge to architects who have yet to encounter and embrace this new technology (but knowing they need to play catch up quickly if they are to meet government guidelines). However, thankfully some forward thinkers in the industry are massively keen to support these youngsters. Globally recognised, multi award winning engineering and project management company Mott MacDonald, world dominating design software corporation Autodesk, and highly respected Building Information Modelling pioneers Space Architects are about to support our KS4 curriculum, sharing our belief that hooking the imagination of (some very) young people can produce the great designers, engineers and construction professionals this country needs in the future.

Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the most influential American architects of the last century, once said “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.”

Clearly, we are not alone….it’s happening in a school near you.

Class Of Your Own feature in this week’s Times Education Supplement magazine ‘TESPro’…..

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The last few days have indeed been amazing. Autodesk University – AU – brings together a couple of thousand designers, engineers, architects, educators and the odd land surveyor to Las Vegas for a feast of career development classes, networking opportunities, fun interactive sessions, inspiring speakers and the chance to be dazzled by the incredible technology available to each and every one of us.

The appearance on stage at yesterday’s opening session of a 27 year old (I repeat, 27 year old) engineer made me grin from ear to ear. I’m afraid I have been known to get on my soapbox a little when it comes to career perceptions in the UK, and particularly when it comes to engineering as most kids (and a number of teachers) automatically think ‘car mechanic’. When this giant of a guy stood on stage and told us of his work designing a new moon buggy for NASA I wanted to jump on stage, bundle him in a bag and ship him home, just so I could sprinkle a little bit of ‘wow’ over the kids back home. However, when I told fellow built environment professionals that we have kids half that age who are using Autodesk software to design amazing structures, they too displayed the same wide eyed, big smile expression. “No way! Thirteen years old? No way!”

“Well, no, actually that’s not quite right” I told them. “Some of them are as young as ten”.

The difference? They are taught by teachers who share our vision, that young people, given the opportunity to play, will fly with this technology like a playstation game. These teachers are not afraid to learn themselves, not afraid to have a go at clicking that icon and seeing what happens. And some of these teachers were at AU.

One teacher I met was doing some great things at his school in New Zealand. He told me great stories of how his kids were having him order rocket kits, but instead of simply piecing them together, they were making controlled modifications to go higher, faster, last longer before they blew up (!). He had taught himself how to use Revit Architecture –  the same software we introduce in our KS3 Design Engineer Construct! curriculum – and he was desperate to teach his kids. But he was worried that he didn’t know enough to do the best job and had come to AU for some support, and to find a way of teaching the software in context. I suggested that he took the theme of space travel since his students were already lunar design engineers in their own right, and have the students design a building where the astronauts could live once they’d made it on their great journey to the moon. This would give them some real challenges. What material would they use which would be light and flexible enough to carry? How would the lack of atmosphere affect their designs? What about the number and type of of rooms? And so on and so forth.

To me, this teacher, just like the teachers we work with in the UK, is a hero. His greatest strength is his willingness to think outside the box, to give his kids the opportunity at his own risk. His failure would be their success: I guaranteed that in a matter of weeks, they would be correcting his mistakes and helping him progress his own skills. Bite the bullet and do it. I can remember having a similar conversation with Autodesk when I first asked them to support software into secondary schools. I told them, let’s not be prescriptive. Let the kids get the design principles right on a practice model (i.e. an eco classroom) and then let them have some fun. Prepare them to build the next Houses of Parliament, the next White House, the next space station….

You’ll be rewarded one thousand times over when your own students stand on that stage in a few years to come and thank you, their remarkable teacher, for having the courage to cut them loose.

Read more by visiting http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=blaug

I recently  boarded my Virgin Atlantic flight to Las Vegas where the excellent annual Autodesk University takes place (more on this in my next blog…..). Unfortunately my usual Sunday Telegraph was not available, but Mr Branson kindly supplied The Mail on Sunday (and some other really nice glossy magazines) for passengers.

Bypassing celebrity rot (Miss Kate Winslet and Ned excluded of course, Sir Richard), my eyes were drawn to an interesting article on page 43 by Mail journalist Valerie Elliot, entitled:

“745 youngsters are out of work in my town, so why can’t I find a recruit?”

The article began “Skilled crafts are dying out in Britain because our failing schools are producing a generation of youngsters ill-equipped for working life.” The view of Mr Piers Hart, a cabinet maker from Thetford, Norfolk. Mr Hart has recently taken on an enthusiastic, eager 18 year old Lithuanian man with limited English skills as British teenagers “don’t know what a day’s work is”, citing a young local boy who had a ‘typical’ attitude towards the job opportunity: he “did not like it”. Mr Hart blames ‘the education system’ for ‘failing to prepare them for employment’ and believes that government money should be spent on vocational training. The article concludes that ‘woodworking’ is still on the [UK] curriculum but is geared towards the building trade and does not teach the craftsmanship that is needed for high quality goods’.

I refer readers to an earlier blog (http://www.blog.classofyourown.com/?p=364) where I reported an exciting day with North West teenagers about to leave school to venture into the ‘World of Work’. We visit many schools, and whilst we have some extraordinary days with amazing students, there does seem to be an apathetic view towards employment and the real world. As an uninspired teenager myself back in the late 80s (no quips please – I’ve heard them all!), I can relate to today’s kids who have ambition to better themselves and who desperately want a great career, but they don’t have a clue what that means. As a top class student throughout my secondary school years I still feel quite aggrieved that I wasted six years of my life before a chance meeting led me to the path I eventually chose in the professional ‘building trade’.

It is SO IMPORTANT that young people from all walks of life have ambition and feel wanted. I get very emotional when I hear today’s youngsters say “what’s the point of studying? I won’t get a job anyway.” Small wonder there is such a NEETS problem. Introductions to, and real life experiences in a range of jobs is so important, but from a young age. So much money is spent on 14-16 education when hormones and apathy have already kicked in, and it’s very easy to become a sheep. The girl in said earlier blog is a magnificent example of a young person who discovered her ideal on a real life experience with a professional (the great folks at BDP Manchester), however, I assume the next day she went back to her normal way of life as nothing progressed from the opportunity (note to self and lightbulb moment – email the headteacher and take her on as a mentee). Too late, I say – grip them while they’re young and instil the message of ‘be the best’ and ‘oh yes you can’ at KS3 or even earlier.

Mr Hart and thousands of employers like him, are being forced to recruit foreign workers because our own home grown kids were not equipped with basic skills.

But could we  - as an industry and as employers (or indeed professional employees)  – do better by our schools? After speaking with one of my favourite forward thinking head teachers this week regarding the tendency to categorise engineering with motor vehicle maintenance (a fact which absolutely frustrates, nay angers, my colleagues in structural, civil, geomatic, geotechnical etc etc engineering), I realise that our own highly skilled ‘craftsmanship’ is not promoted in schools as well as it could be. My friend told me “Ali, the problem is, most of our teachers don’t understand what engineering is. We’re not told. We just follow curriculum.” So, are schools to blame? Can they be forgiven for going for the obvious route, if no one has ever knocked on the door and told them explicitly what’s out there, in the big wide world?

Note to self number 2 – Class Of Your Own was set up to bridge the gap between schools and professionals in the built environment. I was telling my highly respected friend Eddie Murphy of Mott MacDonald that I wanted to start a campaign to help schools gain a better understanding of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. And as I flew over the Atlantic towards America to join a gathering of hundreds of like minded professionals from all over the world, I hope to come back with a few more evangelists who can get real with teachers and thereby support our children’s creativity and aspirations.

If you are a school/teacher/student, tell us what you need and we hope, through our network of incredible professionals, to make some introductions.

Check out Autodesk University by clicking on http://au.autodesk.com/

Read The Mail article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066757/If-745-youngsters-work-town-I-recruit.html

Well – what a week! Andy and Joe from Children’s BBC Newsround visited Burnley to report on the Design Engineer Construct! Weavers Triangle Curriculum programme and find out exactly what the young students had been getting up to since the Summer holidays. From historic research, client consultation, design briefing, building surveying….and they’ve only just started! The nice guys at Leica Geosystems – Paul Burrows and James Whitworth – were on hand to help the students with some hi tech laser and GPS surveying on site and then it was a quick dash over to Blessed Trinity RC College where the students (and teachers!) demonstrated their Autodesk Revit skills.

All was captured on camera for the broadcast on BBC1 on Monday 28th November….we’ll bring you the latest, but you can watch on the BBC iPlayer too at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=newsround.

On Friday 14th of October 2011 the BSF (Building Schools for the Future) team, comprising three year 8 students, five year 10s and 2 year 8s went back to the new school site to find a task lay ahead of us.

Me (Jess) and my friends Rebekah, Lewis, Charlotte, Amina, Jack, Cameron, Matt, Adina and  Connor had been chosen to design and construct a STEM outdoor classroom area! STEM’ stands for Science Technology Engineering and Maths. These four subjects have to be combined some way or another into this outdoor area.

We had a tour around the school so we could see the area we were working with and got to ask lots of questions and take part in a conversation. We found out lots of facts about the building and gave some of our own too! Did you know that porridge can be used to plaster or render walls? Or that some of the glass in our new school building can withstand an hour of fire before it starts melting? We also saw lots, like a 110 ton crane and builders at work.

The outdoor classroom area we are designing is next to the car park and in front of the energy centre. It has a budget of £37000. We can use recycled objects if we like, to save money. We will be doing this in a total of 6 days spaced over the period of October to February. We have to design and then present this to very high-up people. And then we have to prepare the plans. We do get some help though. We have an architect, a landscape architect, a surveyor and other professional people helping us along the way.

This should be the best experience of our lives! (Even for the adults!)

By Jess Ballard – Year 8, Darwen Vale High School

We were honoured to be asked to present the Design Engineer Construct At Weavers Triangle curriculum programme to His Royal Highness Prince Charles when he visited Burnley yesterday. Director Alison Watson joined a very special congregation of East Lancashire businesses, educators and community leaders to join the Prince of Wales to celebrate the transformation of the historic Victoria Mill site, which has been earmarked for a new university technical college.

“It was really lovely to meet the Prince – he’s a very warm, genuine person and was really interested to hear about the plans to transform the school house with Burnley’s young people. The students helped create a great exhibition area not only for the Prince to view, but also for the 150 guests. Many people applauded the students’ efforts and were amazed to learn they were so young. Prince Charles told me that Class Of Your Own should get in touch with his Foundation for the Built Environment. I was pleased to tell him that we had actually worked with them earlier in the year, and look forward to doing so again on this fantastic project.” (Read our January 2011 blog http://www.blog.classofyourown.com/?m=201101)

Friends of COYO rallied round to help the students create a short film for the Prince and his guests. Our sincere thanks go to Tim Badley, Paul Burrows and Chris Gibbons at Leica Geosystems, Rob Clark at Cadassist, Mick Threlfall at Green Cottage Design and the fabulous Weavers’ Triangle Project Officers and Engineers. But most of all, to the Burnley students, mums and one lovely grandad who spent the first day of the half term holiday scanning the Weavers Triangle Old Schoolhouse building with some seriously technical kit. The Leica C10 Laser Scanner scans 50,000 points per second to produce a 3D model with incredible accuracy. The students were amazed at the results (and Weavers Triangle staff even more so!). “It’s just like Playstation!” they said. That’s the beauty of modern technology – young people are excited by software and hardware alike as they use it everyday – whether it’s the C10 or a Playstation, they are not afraid to press buttons to see what happens next. For us, the ‘what happens next’ is the most exciting part – particularly when it leads to a fresh look at architecture, engineering and construction, and an extraordinary opportunity for young students everywhe

Click here to see the film: Burnley Weavers at Work!

I recently arranged a ‘construction’ themed day for a group of 15/16 year old students. A bit of a challenge, particularly as it was obvious that some of them were not really sure why they were with me, and clearly would have much preferred to be elsewhere, given the choice. So perhaps to start the day with “I hope you’ve got your maths heads on” was not the brightest move on my part. Grunts and the odd swear word ensued, but I persevered, preferring to tread water than sink like a stone.

No surprise, when I asked “what careers are found in the construction industry”, I was given the usual raft of jobs such as bricklayer, electrician, plumber etc. Nothing wrong in that. But most of these students didn’t really understand the need for mathematics in these jobs. A ‘dunno and don’t care’ attitude shone through, and when I told them they were going to do some maths that thousands of groundworkers and bricklayers use everyday, I think they all thought I’d lost the plot. One student told me “I don’t get maths – I might not get a job anyway”. Oh dear, oh dear.

And so, with the promise of cake for those who proved me right – that they could (and indeed would!) ‘get maths’, the challenge began. With the help of laser measurement devices (”how cool are these?!”), tape measures, compasses and the obligatory calculator (bear with me – even the biggest brains need them sometimes), I tasked them to measure the assembly hall, giving me the width, length, height, area, volume and orientation. Then they had to mark a one metre offset from a wall, and set out a 3×3m ‘building’ using Pythagoras to ensure it was square.

My heart beat a little faster when one of them said “Pythagoras. That’s that ‘a’ squared and ‘b’ squared thing, innit?” A good start. These fifteen boys and one token female not only completed the challenge, but ENJOYED IT. They were proud to get the answer right, They worked it out, showed leadership and teamwork, rationalised, debated. Out with the attitude, in with determination. Dare I say, I was PROUD.

These students didn’t believe they could do it – but they did. And what’s more, I believe they will never forget c2 = a2 + b2 because they saw Pythagoras in action. They took away a really useful skill. Not to mention a nice piece of cake.

For the record, I then took the students to the award winning sustainable offices of leading architects BDP in Manchester. They met architects and engineers, asked some great intelligent questions as they toured the building and watched a demonstration of 3D modelling techniques, and on the bus home, told me of their new desire to become electrical engineers, renewable energy installers and architects. I know for a fact that one boy, who was pinning his hopes on joining the army (as it was the only way he could guarantee a job), decided he wanted to” learn how to use the same software as that CAD guy – I could design army buildings instead”. Our token female wanted to be a plumber, I suspect because her male friend wanted to. Now she wants to be an architect.

Some young people can learn in the classroom, and they excel. But for those who can’t (or won’t) and need some help to dig out even an ounce of ambition, providing authentic learning opportunities offers hope to kids who are in real danger of being labelled ‘hopeless’.

Today, we were out with some of the terrific students from Accrington Academy’s ‘Roots’ – that’s Dan, Saffron, Natalie and Morgan – to film site context videos for our forthcoming Revit training movies. Supported by the great folks at River Motion Group (http://rivermotiongroup.com) who have already produced some terrific industry films, we visited three Balfour Beatty sites in Blackburn and Darwen. Balfour Beatty has taken a leading role in the construction industry and embedded BIM (Building Information Modelling) into all new construction projects, the first of which being St Silas Primary School, Blackburn. As many of our readers know, COYO champions the use of Autodesk Revit and Vasari in the classroom by young people (and we mean young – some users are only 10 years old!) giving them skills which grow as they do. Our training partners at Cadassist (http://www.e-cadassist.com/aboutus/default.asp?id=1) ensure that teachers are trained to a high level so they are confident to teach a class in the fundamentals of BIM, and the help of expert trainer Rob Clarke in helping develop training videos has been indispensable. But! we also believe that software needs context – there are some pretty complex or confusing terms in Revit and indeed in general in the industry! From EXTRUSION and RENDER  to TREAD and CAVITY, we don’t expect our young designers, engineers and construction managers to understand all the gobbledygook!  So we asked our friends at Balfour Beatty to explain what some of these terms mean, and they were only too pleased to help. Our ‘Switch to Site’ videos are available as part of the Design, Engineer, Construct! curriculum and coming soon to your school….

Dan and Alison were thrilled to co-host the launch of the new Design Engineer Construct at the Weavers Triangle! curriculum with Burnley Council and students from local schools  Blessed Trinity RC High School, Shuttleworth Academy, Unity College, Sir John Thursby High School and ACERS Burnley. Mike Cook, the Council’s Director of Regeneration and Housing, Tim Badley of Leica Geosystems and Gordon McGlathery from Cadassist joined COYO to introduce a very special curriculum whereby students will take over the sustainable refurbishment of  ’The Old Schoolhouse’ – a building constructed in 1840 for children of the mill workers. The project will see them involved in dynamic surveying and 3D modelling design sessions using Leica laser scanners and Autodesk software. The students presented a summary of the historical research conducted by inspirational 12 year old Shuttleworth student Katie Elsworth who had spent much of her Summer holiday in the library and museums of Burnley. Tasked with a COYO challenge to discover historical and social information about the school building, her findings even surprised resident local history expert and Burnley councillor Roger Frost, who concluded presentations with handover of a special key to all participating schools.A tour of buildings in the Weavers Triangle was then led by members of the Project Team – Cecilia Whitaker, James Warnock and Bernice Lim – and students were able to see the very building they will work on over the next two years.

From history to masterplanning, surveying to architecture, heritage construction skills to facilities management, the next generation of iconic buildings are about to be designed, engineered and constructed by Burnley students. And we just cannot wait!

Read more by visiting http://bit.ly/pI2FaI