Staveley Junior School Donation to Boost Career Awareness

We recently supplied construction-related play equipment to the pupils of Staveley Junior School in Chesterfield for role-play activities. The donation of hard hats and high vis vests continues the social value contribution associated with our work with Chesterfield Borough Council at school level – helping to raise awareness of the opportunities available within the construction industry.

In Staveley, our team has been working on the DRIIVe project which has recently progressed to RIBA Stage 4, and the £6 million regeneration and revitalisation project Staveley 21. Being actively involved in several community projects, and with some being funded by local authorities, we are proud to show our commitment to delivering work and resources that are wanted and needed by the community.

Director Kriston Harvey said: “We were initially approached by the headteacher of Staveley Junior School, Sue Parkes, about donating some equipment to the children and we were more than happy to assist right away. At Rodgers Leask, social value is something that we practice, not just preach. We are involved in some fantastic projects in Staveley, from the DRIIVe project at Barrow Hill to Staveley 21. We know the community Chesterfield Borough Council is supporting through our work and we are happy to aid in the local transformation both on and off site.

“We hope the hard hats and high-vis jackets give pupils an early awareness of the construction industry. We know that students and young people often have misconceptions about our industry and the roles that are available to them. The earlier we can broaden the horizons of pupils; the less stigmatised construction and the built environment will be in the future. The hope is that we inspire some of the pupils to consider this as a career choice in later life – sewing the seed early.”

Sue Parkes, headteacher at Staveley Junior School, said: “We were delighted that Rodgers Leask was able to donate construction related play equipment to us recently. The school has a real focus on outdoor play including role play that allows our children to develop their awareness of risk and how to manage it and this all contributes to our focus around our school motto of dream, believe, achieve.

“It has been really powerful to be able to talk about the equipment with respect to future careers and being able to link that to local projects that the children can see taking place around them.”

In addition to the DRIIVe project and Staveley 21, our teams have been working on the Staveley Regeneration corridor with Harworth Group looking at highway and drainage infrastructure, watercourse assessment and flood risk.

Recently, we have also completed our commission on the Chesterfield Canal project for the Chesterfield Canal Trust, undertaking a significant amount of intrusive site investigation and Stage 3 civil and structural design works to allow the scheme to start on site in accordance with the programme, despite several challenging obstacles that we successfully helped navigate.

To find out more about our Chesterfield-based projects, you can read our recent news here: News – Rodgers Leask