Almost 200 year nine students gathered in the school hall at Thomas Aveling School in Rochester on Friday 14 February for the first careers day hosted by us.
The day kicked off with an assembly, where two colleagues from team mhs gave a short presentation to go through the outline of the day.
It included an introduction to us being a charitable housing provider in north Kent employing around 280 staff, our strategic ambitions, where we operate and the different trades youngsters could experience throughout the day.
13 and 14 year-olds then spent the day working their way around five workshop sessions which covered carpentry, plumbing, grounds, electrical and gas and bricklaying.
The workshops, run by our skilled operatives, were attended by around 40 students at a time and was a chance for them to have a hands-on demo of using the equipment.
“The aim of today was really about inspiring and connecting with young people who may be interested in one of these fields. There was a lot of interest and questions about the different areas and pieces of equipment. This is the first time we’ve run a careers day and it’s been really successful, so we hope to run more in the future.”, said Colin McCarthy, HR Manager at mhs homes.
We approached the secondary school at the start of the academic year in 2019, to ask if we could offer support to students with career options and choices.
“It’s been great to work with the Thomas Aveling School, which is in the heart of Medway, where we own and manage more than 8,600 homes. It’s really important that we’re a visible landlord, that we have a presence within the communities we serve. I’d like to thank the Thomas Aveling School for welcoming us today and for their support in the run-up to today’s exciting event”, said Ashley Hook, Chief Executive of mhs homes.
The school, based on Arethusa Road in Rochester has since thanked mhs for the day, saying the busy event was a great opportunity for students to find out more about potential careers.
“Every child in year nine went and spent an hour with the teams from mhs - on a carousel of activities – and every child had a great time. We really appreciate the effort that mhs put in in designing and bringing along activities that would engage our kids. They learned a lot and a significant number were inspired to think of these jobs as something they might want to take up”, said Headteacher Paul Jackson.
According to the construction training and registration body, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), less than 2% of workers in manual trades are women.
Women and Manual Trades provides advice, support and guidance to housing providers, training organisations and employers as well as policy makers, to facilitate the growth in women’s career opportunities within the construction sector.
“It’s great to see a career day being held which brings alternative career choices to the attention of girls – especially the building trades and construction, which offer a variety of rewarding roles! It’s still the case that career options presented to school students are gender-stereotypical and this is something which needs to be addressed by everyone – schools, employers, as well as society more widely, so it’s encouraging to see mhs homes and the Thomas Aveling School working in partnership to address this”, said Hannah Carty from Women and Manual Trades.
We’re constantly working to make sure we're a diverse and inclusive organisation. Part of that involves engaging women in trades.
“We will continue to look at ways of attracting women into our workplace. This includes targeting our recruitment strategies to encourage women to apply for roles where they are less represented and have role models that they can relate to and be inspired by”, added Colin.