Construction Students Site Visit to New School Build

Students from the Level 2 Traineeship NI in Maintenance Operations (Construction) at SERC’s Downpatrick Campus had the opportunity to visit to the new Down High School build on Strangford Road, Downpatrick recently. 

Accompanied by SERC’s Skills Development Champion, Brendan Moore, the students were welcomed to the site by Project Manager, Gareth Brown and the Site Manager, Patrick McBride from Graham.  

Following a health and safety induction on arrival, Gareth and Patrick escorted the students around the project, answering questions throughout the tour.  The students were shown a video of the site before construction began and the progress to date. At its peak, some 300 construction workers from all trades were involved in the project. This has reduced to 150 people as the build nears completion. 

The students benefited greatly from the site visit as they had the opportunity to see first-hand the workings of a construction site, put their questions to the Site and Project Managers, and learnt about the variety of tradespeople involved in a major project in the local area.   The build which commenced in February 2023 is expected to be completed in spring 2025.  

Click here to see an interactive aerial view of the new build from September 2024.