Kerri Molloy from WCS Schools Liaison Team initiated this collaborative event with the school. She said:

We were contacted by St Michaels Primary asking if the College could assist them with their wildlife project. Different departments within the College were keen to help and, together with them, we were able to develop programmes which suited the school’s project. Brian Innes, a lecturer from Learner Development, created a birdhouse for the school and the whole Construction Department organised a full-day visit.

During this visit at our Greenock Campus, the children were introduced them to a wide range of construction activities – from painting to bricklaying to joinery. The kids were delighted to be able to grab the tools and take part in hands-on project coordinated by the College’s Construction lecturers.

Mrs Thomson, St Michaels Primary School Teacher, was very pleased with the enriching experience the visit provided to her school children. She said:

West College Scotland conducted three workshops that enabled the children to build bird houses, bug hotels and sign posts to be distributed around our school grounds as part of our outdoor learning project.  Our young people experienced first-hand how all of their learning linked together to realise projects.

In fact, this day at College was an inspiring experience for the children, who are now considering studying and working in construction when they’ll be older. They said:

“I had really good fun and when I go to college I am going to study construction!” – Kerr McPhee

“I liked the painting workshop because I like to draw and paint and there were cool stencils” – Ellie Campbell

“At the bricklaying workshop, I learned how to use a spirit level properly and I liked it most because I finished first. I think I want to be a builder or a joiner” – Arron Bonnar

“My favourite was the wood workshop because I like working with tools especially the hammer.  I learned how to drill things and I didn’t know how to do that before.” – Ryley Kane

The whole Construction department at WCS Greenock Campus helped during the visit and was delighted to introduce the children to construction works.  Kevin McIlroy, Construction Curriculum and Quality Leader at the campus, said:

We were delighted to offer the children a chance to come in to the college and get an opportunity to try a variety of construction activities. The excitement and enthusiasm of the children was evident immediately and throughout the day. It was a pleasure to watch them tackle the various tasks with great gusto and my staff thoroughly enjoyed working with this group of young people.

In addition to helping the children with their school project, the visit was a great opportunity to enthuse the children about studying at College. Mrs Thomson said:

Many of the children had a perception that college was very similar to school, they no longer have this perception. They also learned how important their literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing was during this crucial time in their education in order to transfer into life skills later on.

The last word goes to School Children Holly Canning:

I can’t wait until College. I wasn’t expecting it to be that much fun!