Site-seeing construction students from South West College

A group of Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment and Civil Engineering students from South West College recently received their Construction Skills Register cards as part of their qualification.

One of these students is Aaron Harkness from Cookstown. Aaron shares his thoughts on achieving his own CSR card:

“It was interesting to go out to a large site and see how a building is constructed and it’s really beneficial to get a CSR card as part of our course. It will be very useful in the future when I get into work in the construction sector”.

CSR is an industry recognised health and safety standard and is a mandatory requirement for construction workers on sites across the UK and Ireland. The students put their CSR cards to good use and spent the day on an interesting site visit to a live construction site at Little Victoria Street in Belfast.

The city-centre project involves the construction of a 15-storey purpose-built student accommodation scheme delivering 271 self-contained studio apartments with extensive breakout, social and study areas throughout the building.

The educational visit focused on teamwork, resilience, management, technology, health and safety, sustainability and was facilitated by leading Design & Build Contractor McAleer & Rushe and guided by a past student of South West College – Senior Engineer, Kevin Hughes. 

Kevin’s career was kicked off thanks to his choice of study at SWC:

‘I studied the BTEC Level 3 Construction course at SWC Dungannon, which helped me immensely in my chosen career in construction.’

Vanessa O’Keeffe, Head of School for the Natural and Built Environment at SWC, explained the benefits of studying at the college and the strong links with industry:
“South West College is uniquely placed with its extensive list of Industrial contacts. Site Visits and guest speakers take place regularly and help embed knowledge, skills and behaviours taught in the classroom”.

SWC students have the option to:

• Study full time BTEC Extended Diploma in Construction or Civil Engineering (equivalent to 3 A levels)
  
  OR
  
• Study a part-time Apprenticeship in Civil Engineering employed at a local Civil Engineering company and attend SWC one day per week (equivalent to 2 A levels)
  
  
  These are just a few of the many options to get on a career path towards the vibrant construction sector with options from level 3 up to level 6 courses available.