We have been delighted to have been asked to be the only school in the North East to take part in the Sunbelt Rentals Beacon Schools Programme. Sunbelt Rentals are a company that not many people might know; however, you will have come across them at some point. They provide services to all major events, building projects and much more across the UK and abroad.
In conjunction with Wates Group, an organisation that we have strong links with, our Year 12 Engineering students have been given the opportunity to get involved in the project. In Washington, Wates are involved in the biggest construction project in their 125 year history, by building the new AESC Car Battery Gigafactory which will be operational by 2025. Sunbelt Rentals are providing equipment to support this huge building project. On Tuesday, students took part in the first activity within this project, which involved a morning spent at the site in Washington.
The morning was divided into two parts, with a tour of the huge site which will employ over 1000 people and deliver a six-fold increase in UK electric vehicle production in the UK. The second part consisted of working with the Sunbelt and Wates teams to take part in a range of job shadowing activities. In March, students will visit again to take part in a morning of employability skills. This will then lead to eight students having the opportunity to take part in a paid work experience programme in July.
