Case Study 1.

The commission's focus was to showcase the breadth and range of occupations and skills in the construction industry, shine a spotlight on the diversity of the workforce and demonstrate that there are no barriers to a construction career. The CITB were also very keen that viewers will gain an appreciation for how the Construction Industry is leading on environmental management and creating change, and understand that a career in construction is long-term and secure. All viewers, we hope, will come away from the experience realising the potential the construction industry offers them for a long-term career. 

We were commissioned to create a short film, to be used as a Virtual Taster, shown in onsite Experience Hubs and schools across the UK,  to encourage students, career changers and anyone seeking work to consider a career in the Construction Sector.  The film will be made available for at least two years and will be complemented by learning and information resources.

Products created for The CITB

A short film

• Workbooks, Entry to Level 3 (adult learner), differentiated to suit all learning styles

• Teacher’s packs and an introductory webinar

• Posters to download these include Q & As with extension actions for readers to reflect on and research

• Career Profile posters.

As per The Careers and Enterprise Companies and Gatsby’s Benchmarks, Schools were encouraged to share the film with their stakeholders - parents, Governors, Enterprise Advisors, etc. 

Why we took specific approaches

• Filming was conducted in both urban and rural settings, including a heritage build, to represent the range of locations and ways of working

• Young people need to relate to the people in the film, so we chose current career starters who viewers can connect with

• Routes into construction needed to be highlighted, the focus therefore was  on degree and apprentice routes open to school leavers and adults

• A range of job types was covered to suit the wide ranging audience, including trades and roles requiring a degree

• Relevant future-focused technologies were profiled and tools such as Passivhaus and drones to add excitement and support current methodology

• A focus on women in construction was essential to support industry equality and diversity goals 

• Learning materials were created to accompany the film and enable users to develop their understanding and interest. These learning materials also meant that the film would be needed to be watched multiple times, thereby increasing the likelihood of viewers following up the engagement with positive action

• Schools and community settings are always looking for materials to use during short sessions such as tutor time, so the materials meet their needs

• Differentiated materials were created to enable users with varying academic and cognitive abilities to engage with the film’s key messages and learning

• The film was subtitled to ensure access

• Teacher packs help adults use the materials and gain the most out of them for their students

• Additional materials such as posters provide settings with more materials to use to signpost to the film, the CITB and Go Construct

• As a SkillsBuilder partner the learning materials were submitted for an Impact Level Award, which adds value to those schools, as their students can gain SkillsBuilder badges as a result of completing the learning activities.

Context and overview

Members of the CITB had identified desirable skills and were looking to identify and develop their future talent pipeline, but they need help reaching students in education settings in a meaningful way.

There is not the limitless budget and time available for the delivery of programmes that schools imagine employers to have, and the worlds of work and education operate on different planes, each with their own imperatives and schedules. Equally, employers can find schools to be unreliable partners who have a tendency to cancel at the last minute and schools often struggle to find the capacity to make the arrangements necessary to allow employers to engage with their students. SMEs especially miss out on the opportunity to source local talent.

We create quality, cost-effective digital content which is made available to schools to use digitally or download, as and when needed, with links for teachers to follow to make further contact and for students to follow to find out more and take career development steps. Digital content can achieve a far greater reach than in-person delivery and can be used to identify career starters who have a genuine interest in a sector, which means that employers can then engage meaningfully with those identified students in the form of specific outreach or pre-employment opportunities.

The Education Landscape

1. Schools and FE Colleges are busy places with multiple priorities, including raising literacy and numeracy levels, achieving examination outcomes which demonstrate added value, safeguarding and mental health, and supporting SEND students. There must also be in place a curriculum for careers, from Year 7. This curriculum competes for time with health and social education, covering drugs, alcohol and sexual health. Schools still operate a tutor system, with students spending 20-30 minutes a day with their designated tutor. There is one member of staff, a Careers Leader, who is charged with strategic responsibility for careers provision. Theoretically, this individual has allocated time with which to liaise with an employer volunteer to enable employer engagement, ensure the careers programme meets need and report on the achievement of the 8 Standards in careers provision, the Gatsby Benchmarks. In reality, this individual may have other responsibilities, a teaching load, or stress leading to prolonged periods of absence.

All materials produced must, therefore, be easy to use and access, and intuitive for all teaching and support staff; we provide simple guidance on the learning content, including suggestions for activities, further links to direct students towards, and explanations of some of the concepts. Teachers are able to identify a specific activity which could take a few minutes and fit into an assembly length slot, or use the notes we provide to turn that into a longer lesson, or series of lessons if desired. No preparation is needed and the range of activities mean that different students can be working through different elements, according to need or interest.

1. Careers education suffers from a one size fits all approach, which assumes that all young people will have a level of interest in a particular presentation, or will be able to access the same materials, presented in the same way to everyone. The lack of differentiation for young people with additional learning needs, with SEMH barriers or those who resent the assumption that simply listening to a CEO will inspire them, means that many students do not benefit tangibly from standard career or employer interventions.

The materials were differentiated to meet a range of needs and all learning styles. We subtitle all of our films and match literacy levels to specific groups of students. We include widgits for those who have cognitive barriers who may be learning in specialist settings, with activities tailored to their experience and best career outcomes. We design materials for students learning at Level 1 and 2, and we have materials which can be followed independently by those who are learning at Level 3 or who are young adults. Activities are varied to suit a range of learning styles, and students have the freedom to access the materials in a range of ways; they are not arranged chronologically.

1. There is little money in state settings for textbooks, never mind a programme of careers enrichment, and employer engagement is still a postcode lottery, with city schools faring well in comparison to their rural counterparts. These settings need to access complimentary programmes and content. The best content is learning focused, with learning outcomes, and makes cross curricular links, developing students’ understanding of themselves and the world as well as a specific sector. Teachers in all subject areas need to feel that the materials are relevant and worth attention.

Our materials create cross-curricular links and provide information about mentoring, apprenticeships, and activities, such as strengths and skills self-assessment and goal-setting tools. We use a blended teaching and coaching pedagogy and focus on enabling each user to learn more about themselves, career pathways, specific sectors and roles, and how to be successful on their career journey. A computer programme does not do this for students; they are able to make their own meanings.

1. Young people want to access bitesize multimedia material. Increasingly, due to social media consumption, messaging needs to be visual, eye-catching and short in length. There isn’t the stamina or interest in lengthy presentations. Studies show that subtitles support learning for all viewers, not just those with lower literacy levels or additional needs. 

We created professional quality bite-sized videos with graphics and subtitles. We partner with small film production companies which understand the audience; we work collaboratively to storyboard and consider teaching pedagogy during the creative process, so that there are multiple hooks for further learning and opportunities for teachers and other advisers, such as STEM Ambassadors and careers professionals, to build on the themes and concepts in discussions with young people.

1. Young people continue to aspire to work in the same stereotypical roles as they did 20 years ago, according to research completed by Education and Employers, including ‘architects’, ‘doctor’, and ‘professional sportsperson’. Students, parents and teachers are not aware of the breadth of roles now available, nor the sectors with the most demand. This means that there continues to be a mismatch between career aspiration and employer need. 

Our approach to the creation of multimedia materials provides young people with a window into a more realistic career future, featuring real people in real jobs which are future focused. This meant that, for the construction industry, we included, among other roles: carpentry, quantity surveying, acoustic engineering, and drone operation. The mix was deliberate: including unusual roles which young people are unlikely to recognise as a job description, along with more traditional roles which are in high demand. The rest of the learning materials contain information, activities and links which build on the key messages in the film, so that young people can discover more and develop their understanding.

1. We know that STEM careers still overwhelmingly attract a narrow demographic, so careers materials need to feature people who represent all young people in some way. This can be challenging for employers who send a representative into schools to engage physically in outreach programmes. For example, most students – especially girls - give up learning computer science, design focused subjects, and mathematics as early as they are able, and many opt to study traditional university degrees which are not leading to high skilled roles in in-demand industries. They need to see representation in the film and materials in order to think that construction could be suitable for them.

We choose interviewees who are young and in the first phase of their career journey, as apprentices, graduate trainees, or in their first junior management role. The people who feature in our materials are able to share their career starter journeys, which will inspire and give ideas to others about how to start a career in construction.

The commission was paid for by the CITB for use by their education arm, Go Construct and within their learning hubs. It was branded to conform to the client’s branding requirements.

The ROI was measured by views and downloads. With over 100000 views of the film, the ROI per person was approximately 0.4 pence.