Countryside announces partnership with educational charity STEMPOINT East to develop Y12 professional skills
Countryside has partnered with STEMPOINT East to take part in the Nuffield Research Placement scheme this summer, which will provide the opportunity for Year 12 students, from selected London regions where Countryside is developing new homes, to take part in real-life research placements – designed to develop the students’ professional, research and quantitative skills.
For two weeks between July and August 2022, Countryside will be offering a total of 18 students the opportunity to take part in the Nuffield Research Placement scheme across the boroughs of Brent, Lambeth, Waltham Forest and Barking & Dagenham with the aim of developing the scheme in numbers and geographically year on year.
The Nuffield Research Placement scheme aims to inspire the next generation by supervising and funding students over a two-week placement. The scheme is delivered by STEM Learning. All of the students who take part in the scheme are from low-income backgrounds and research shows that participation increases the likelihood of students attending top universities – many of the students become the first in their family to attend higher education.
Countryside will be providing students with a series of meaningful and exciting hands-on research projects at development schemes and will supervise the students so that they are able to produce a report at the end of their placement. Creating this report ensures that students are able to make a meaningful contribution, as well as enabling them to develop their research and quantitative skills and learn about different career paths that they previously might not have considered. This in turn will expand their career prospects and enhance their UCAS personal statements and applications to university. This is also part of the Countryside commitment to support diversity in the construction sector and by providing work experience the hope is to inspire the next generation of built environment professionals into the housing sector.
The students will be providing insights to Countryside through their research by exploring industry issues such as improving sustainability in town centres, creating crime and safety solutions through regeneration, how to bring culture and engagement together on housing estate regeneration, and investigating how MMC can be used to help alleviate the UK housing crisis.
Mike Woolliscroft, Chief Executive, Partnerships South, Countryside said: ‘At Countryside we are committed to bringing value to the communities in which we work, and we are thrilled to be able to do this through our partnership with STEMPOINT East – utilising the diversity of skills we have on our schemes to assist young people in their personal and professional development.
We are also delighted that as part of our partnership selected Countryside supervisors will become STEM ambassadors, allowing us to work collaboratively with the students to help bridge the gap between education and real-life business experience on an ongoing basis’.
Sally Moore, Nuffield Research Placements Manager, STEMPOINT East said: ‘STEMPOINT East’s collaboration with Countryside, through the Nuffield Research Placements scheme and STEM Learning will not only help our students expand their STEM skills and professional development but will also broaden their horizons, showing the wide variety of jobs, careers and professions which are dependent on a solid grounding in STEM subjects.
We’re excited to see the outputs that our students produce during their placements with Countryside and see their development across the summer and beyond’.
