Foundation Apprenticeship Construction students nailed their projects this year by building wooden playhouses for three nursery schools in Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Falkirk.
Redwell Early Learning Centre (ELC) in Alloa, Park Drive Nursery in Bannockburn and Park Hill ELC in Polmont, were the lucky recipients of the playhouses, which should provide the youngsters there with hours of fun play.
Stuart Taylor, Curriculum Manager in FVC’s Department of STEM and Construction, said: “We are very proud of our FA Construction students who have successfully delivered their carefully constructed wooden playhouses to their client nurseries.
“At the start of the Foundation Apprenticeship award the Construction groups at each campus are partnered with a local client nursery. It gives the students the experience of planning, designing and constructing a project to a client’s specifications.
“The delivery and construction of the playhouses on site is critically important to the FA Construction student’s development as Construction professionals of the future, as it represents the culmination of a lot of hard work and epitomises why construction is such a rewarding industry to be part of.
“It gives all involved the sense of pride experienced at a successful construction project handover to a happy client. Many of our FA construction students will be progressing to our pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship courses in August and I hope they all continue to be proud of the knowledge, skills and experience gained during their Foundation Apprenticeship course.
“Forth Valley College would like to thank this year’s client nurseries, Redwell ELC, Park Drive Nursery and Park hill ELC for meeting with our FA students and lecturers, throughout this process and giving our students an insight into the requirements of a busy early learning environment.”
Adele Hamilton, Principal Early Childhood Educator, Park Drive Nursery, Bannockburn, said: “We are extremely grateful to Forth Valley College students for working with us to deliver a fantastic tiny house for our nursery garden. The children at Park Drive Nursery will benefit from having access to a cosy space where they can let their imagination run wild.”
Fiona McClure from Redwell Early Learning Centre, said: “Redwell ELC and Primary School would like to thank the students from Forth Valley College for their incredible gift. Redwell ELC is currently developing their outdoor learning space so the little house has been a great addition to our plans.
“We decided to keep our little house plain to enable the children to use their imaginations and make it into whatever they wanted. So far in the short time we have had it, it has been a birdhouse, a cafe and a house. The collaboration between the college and ELC has been seamless and meeting the students from the college on delivery was a pleasure. We hope they have learned skills for life and wish them well in their future careers. "
For more information on FVC’s FA courses visit https://www.forthvalley.ac.uk/ways-to-study/school-partnership/foundation-apprenticeships-courses/