Falkirk High School pupils discover construction is about more than bricks and mortar
For most S2 pupils, a career in construction means one thing - hard hats and muddy boots. By the time 21 young people from Falkirk High School had finished presenting their work at the Rosebank Distillery on Tuesday 19 May, that assumption had been well and truly demolished.
Since last August, the class has been taking part in Women in Property's Schools Outreach programme - a 10-month initiative run entirely by industry volunteers, in partnership with Kier Construction, MLA Architects and BakerHicks.
Each month, a different professional came into the classroom and many of the roles that made the biggest impression were ones the pupils had never heard of - sustainability consultants modelling energy performance, bid writers and marketing managers using storytelling to win projects, and quantity surveyors managing complex project budgets.
A real brief
At the heart of the programme was an opportunity to create proposals for what the young people would like to see at the new Falkirk Town Hall site. Falkirk Council officers came to the school to set the brief, and the pupils also visited the site, getting a real sense of the space and its surroundings.
Working in teams, they moved through visioning and site planning stages, tackling structural challenges, considering costs and learning to interpret a complex client brief. The programme also included a visit to BE-ST, Scotland's national innovation centre for construction, where pupils saw how Scottish-grown timber is being engineered into sustainable building materials.
At the Rosebank Distillery in Camelon they presented their finished proposals - complete with 3D models - to an audience of invited guests.
Emma McCall (13) said speaking in front of people was “nerve-wracking”, but that she enjoyed the whole experience:
The project has made me realise just how many different jobs there are in construction. It’s opened a whole new world to me.
While Ava Dougall (13) said taking part had helped build both her confidence and knowledge:
Learning how to speak in front of people has been a really big thing for me, as it’s not something I do very often.
Learning that lasts
Falkirk Council's Portfolio Holder for Education, Cllr Iain Sinclair, attended the presentations and saw first-hand how the pupils had grown in confidence, developed new skills and could articulate how their school subjects connected directly to professional life - Maths to quantity surveying, Physics to structural engineering, and Geography to urban planning.
He said:
Watching these young people present with such confidence and knowledge was genuinely impressive. This is exactly the kind of real-world learning experience we want for our young people - broadening their horizons and opening doors they might never have known existed.
"It was also fitting that the presentations took place in Rosebank Distillery - a building designed by MLA Architects, one of the programme’s partners. Having learnt about every stage of the design and construction process, the pupils understood exactly went into creating the space they were standing in and had a better understanding than most. I hope it inspires them as they look ahead to their future careers.
Jill Love, Women in Property Central Scotland outreach lead, has seen the programme grow over three years. She said:
Construction is diverse and inclusive for all, and we’re here to educate young people on the opportunities available to them. What this group has achieved over the past 10 months - the depth of knowledge, the teamwork, the quality of their presentations - shows what's possible when young people are given the chance to see the full picture.
Karen Wright, DYW Forth Valley Programme Lead (Falkirk), helped bring the outreach programme and the school together to establish the partnership. She said:
It has been fantastic to see this collaboration between business and education develop. What makes this particularly valuable is the regular, sustained engagement with a wide network of experienced and passionate industry voices, giving young people a rare and authentic insight into the sector. This ongoing interaction helps pupils build confidence, develop skills, and gain a much deeper understanding of the wide range of career pathways within the construction and property industries.