St Astier - General - County Durham
Date: 13 May 2008
County Durham based consulting contractor St Astier, is giving its expertise, manpower and much needed finance to a refurbishment project designed to teach real-world construction skills to pupils from a local secondary school.
The project, to re-clad the dilapidated walls of the school's gymnasium, will give pupils studying Level 2 BTEC in Construction hands-on experience in site management, health and safety, joinery, and masonry work. Each week, the students roll up their sleeves, don hard hats and hi-viz jackets and get on with the serious job of rebuilding part of their school.
The participants are all year 10, [14 year old] pupils of Seaham School of Technology in Seaham, County Durham. Head-Teacher, Dave Shield and St Astier Director, Ranson Og, were keen to make the project as realistic as possible.
"All the students on the course were put through interviews to see how they would fit together as a team" explained Ranson. "I was really impressed with all the lads. Some of them were well in advance of their age and show real promise for a future career in construction." He added.
Two of the course students showed such a high level of aptitude that they have been given jobs as site foremen to manage the whole team under the watchful eye of St Astier staff.
The £10,000 project, funded by St Astier, involves stripping off the worn-out timber skin of the school's gymnasium. Repairs are undertaken and a new external wall of brick cladding is fitted.
Every aspect of the work is carefully monitored and done to the highest standards of safety and workmanship. Head Teacher Dave Shield explained, "We want the students to understand how a real building site works. The pupils will learn professional skills and be able to use what they have learned in their future careers"
"It's also great to see local businesses getting involved with the school. The St Astier team has been fantastic and only good can come out of this kind of co-operation" he added.
The 20 metre long, 4 metre high gymnasium wall is being re-built using a novel brick cladding system called Novabrik. Made by building materials specialists Acheson & Glover, the cladding looks just like conventional brickwork when completed but uses no cement or wet trades in its construction.
Norman Kennedy, course tutor at the Seaham School described the system and the fixing process: "Novabrik works very much like tiling. The brick sized masonry units overlap and lock together, forming a weather-proof and breathable outer skin"
A feature of the cladding is that, if needed, Novabrik can be removed almost as easily as it is fitted. This means that, when this year's students complete their course, the brickwork can be taken down and re-used to train next year's students in these important skills.
St Astier has used the cladding on several other projects in the North East including the refurbishment of social housing on the Beacon Lough and Harlow Green Estates in Gateshead. As a result of this work, the company is held in high regard by the manufacturer as a preferred Novabrik installer.
St Astier has its roots firmly set in the Seaham area and almost three-quarters of its employees are past students of Seaham School of Technology. "The Company is proud of the commitments it makes to the community through the direct employment of local people and through our active involvement in schemes such the Seaham School Initiative, which can have such a positive influence on the lives of pupils" said Ranson Og.
Established in 2003, St Astier Ltd is a leading structural repair consulting contractor serving local authorities, housing associations and commercial, retail and private sector clients. The company also specialises in heritage and conservation projects, having worked on some of the region's most notable ancient monuments and structures including Newcastle's Castle Keep, Tynemouth Priory, Dunstanburgh Castle, Sallyport Tower and Bessie Surtees House.
Year 10, BTEC students at Seaham School of Technology, Co Durham, show off their new construction skills, taught to them by local Contractor, St Astier Ltd
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