UWTSD supports the ‘Skills on Site’ project as part of the Yr Egin development in Carmarthen

A scheme where students of all ages can learn construction skills on site – supporting classroom learning – is now being delivered on site at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Yr Egin development in Carmarthen.

‘Skills on Site’, is an initiative supported by the Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC) and UWTSD in collaboration with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Kier Construction and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).  The partners work alongside education providers and career services to promote onsite learning and to develop engaging construction activities based on the master programme for the construction works.

This week’s event in Carmarthen (18.12.17) welcomed eight students from Coleg Ceredigion and was the first to be held on the site of Canolfan S4C Yr Egin – an ambitious and transformational development that will be home to S4C’s main headquarters as well as a number of companies and organisations working with the creative and digital industries.  Construction started in March this year with the Centre expected to open late summer 2018.

The training was delivered by Steve Langford, Kier’s Project Manager on the Yr Egin development, who shared his vast knowledge and experience of Health and Safety on site in Carmarthen.

“This marks the first of a series of leaning opportunities in Carmarthen for current industrialists on a live site,” said Gerald Naylor of CWIC.  “This is the second Kier Construction site to adopt the ‘Skills on Site’ initiative and demonstrates the willingness of Kier to share their knowledge of the key aspects of constructing a project to full-time students”.

Construction vocational education and training can be greatly enhanced by the inclusion of live onsite learning experiences and today has been a great opportunity for students from Coleg Ceredigion to have a real insight into the subject of Health and Safety delivered on site and attributed to a real life situation.

“It was great to be able to able to bring a group of Level 4 Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) learners to the site of Yr Egin today,” said Coleg Ceredigion lecturer, Huw Thomas.

“We’ve only just started this Higher Education CIOB course which is being funded by CITB and CWIC and are privileged to have this opportunity to visit this site.  The students can put into practice the theory they’ve learnt in class and see what happens in a real life environment.

“Even though most of these learners have site experience, they’re more used to working on domestic builds rather than anything on the scale of Yr Egin,” continues Huw.  “This is a totally new experience for them and one that I’m sure will benefit them greatly.”

Kier has a longstanding record in training and recruitment and has provided increased opportunities for employment growth within the local communities and the construction sector in general by working closely with local support groups to target skill gaps and upskilling where necessary.

Kier Construction has already setup a dedicated classroom and observation platform on UWTS’s SA1 Swansea Waterfront and is delighted to be able to provide similar training opportunities in Carmarthen.

“It was a pleasure to invite students and staff from Coleg Ceredigion to have a site tour of this exciting project in West Wales,” said Steve Langford, Kier’s Project Manager on Yr Egin. “I felt the Safety session we delivered were very well received with students getting a real flavour of what life is like on a major build.”

Further Information

For further information, please contact Sian-Elin Davies, Principal Communications and PR Officer on 01267 676908 / 07449 998476 / sian-elin.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk