Wates Group: CBE Learning

The challenge

The Wates Group already had a strong offer in education, ranging from site visits to its involvement with Croydon College on the Diploma in Construction and Built Environment (CBE).

When they approached us, Wates was looking to extend this offer through developing an online educational resource.

Wates' aims were to:

  • support key educational initiatives, particularly the Diploma in CBE and generally support the construction sector
  • support its wider corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives and its core business, especially Building Schools for the Future (BSF).
  • share skills and expertise and encourage young people into the building industry
  • drive recruitment

As of September 2008, 386 schools and colleges in England were delivering the Diploma in CBE, working in 50 consortia. This formed a natural target audience for the Wates materials.

Our approach

The CBE Learning site walks students through a learning process that fits neatly with the Diploma specification:

  • consultation
  • design process
  • create the built environment
  • use of the built environment.

In order to engage students we created an online challenge, SchoolBuilder. Their task was to design, build and maintain a specialist sports college.

  • Students can work in groups, as a whole class, or individually. They progress through each stage, using information, interactive animations and downloadable worksheets to build their knowledge.
  • This knowledge is then tested in SchoolBuilder.
  • They work online using interactive whiteboards or PCs in class, and also conduct offline activities using downloadable worksheets.
  • In SchoolBuilder, they are guided by a 'virtual site manager'. This briefs students and feeds back on their performance.

All progress can be tracked by teachers through the bespoke registration system.

The site also provides numerous examples of career opportunities at Wates, with profiles of young staff in a range of different roles.

 

Outcomes

The site was launched in October 2009 by Sir Mike Tomlinson. In the three months following the launch, 125 teacher accounts were created, representing about 90 colleges – a significant step towards the first-year target of 200.