28 teenagers from across Worcestershire have been learning sustainable building skills on an innovative training course at Bishops Wood centre in Crossway Green near Stourport.
The 14 to 16 year olds have successfully completed a Level 1 Building and Sustainable Skills (BOSS) course during which they have acquired practical skills in construction and traditional crafts. During the past year the students have spent one day a week at Bishops Wood Centre learning the art of bricklaying, woodwork, woodland management and sustainable building methods such as straw bale and rammed earth construction. The course has culminated in the building of a brick and straw bale-built tool store and workshop which the centre will use for future building courses. The bricks were donated by the Baggeridge Brick Company, production of which taking place just down the road in Hartlebury.
The BOSS course, the first to be held at Bishops Wood, is aimed at students who will benefit from a vocational qualification as well as mainstream school qualifications.
Kim Thorneywork, Director of 14-19 Learning said: 'Not all pupils are suited to learning from traditional classroom study. This course has offered them a real alternative that has taught them practical, usable, construction skills. All the students who successfully complete the course will receive a Level 1 award which will support them to progress to college onto more specialist building qualifications
Students taking part in the course have come from:
- Wolverley High school
- Hagley Roman catholic School
- Bewdley High School
- Haybridge High School
- Stourport School
- King Charles School
- Baxter College
Head of Bishops Wood Centre John Rhymer said: 'This course has equipped the students with valuable skills. More and more we are realising the importance of sustainable building methods and these young people have taken the first steps towards acquiring skills that will be much in demand in the future.'
Bishops Wood Centre stands in the grounds of the National Grid high-voltage electricity sub station at Crossway Green. The centre’s main building is itself a model of good practice for ‘green’ architecture. Its many innovative features include: the use of organic paints, stains and reclaimed bricks, recycled telephone directories to insulate the walls, roofs insulated with turf, a reed bed sewage system, heaters and lights that turn off when rooms are empty, solar heated water and passive solar cooling. Today it houses the centre’s classrooms, extensive resource library, bird hide and administrative offices.
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For further media information contact Jane Taylor on 0121 333 2640