Charlotte Grobien OBE visits SATRO Mobile Classroom at Woodlands School

GIVE-IT-AWAY to make a difference!

A real example of social entrepreneurship

Surrey-based charity SATRO is delighted to announce that Charlotte Grobien OBE, a unique and very special social entrepreneur, has stepped up to the challenge of changing young people’s lives by supporting our programmes to inspire them about their future careers.

Charlotte visited Woodlands School on 1^st October 2015 to see the SATRO Mobile Classroom in action accompanied by SATRO Chairman, James Dubois and Fundraiser, Lucy Miguda.  Charlotte has very kindly sponsored this very special activity for the students for this academic year, the students were delighted to present her with a bird box they had made during their sessions with the SATRO Mobile Classroom.

Charlotte Grobien, said “I loved the visit to Woodlands.  Such a lovely school in all respects: beautiful grounds and buildings with dedicated staff and happy children.  It is a pleasure to help them with funding for the SATRO Mobile Classroom”

During the course the students have also made planters which so impressed Charlotte that she has commissioned the students to make two for her next project in Woking.  The students are thrilled with this opportunity to showcase and sell their work; for Charlotte this is real social entrepreneurship!

Charlotte runs Give-it-Away which is unique in how it raises money for charity – it builds  houses, sells them and then gives the profits to charities that fit with Charlotte’s charitable interests.  Charlotte supports small, local charities who work with vulnerable children and young people who have disabilities, learning problems, difficult home backgrounds and where there is also financial deprivation. 

Gill Lloyd, Teacher at Woodlands School commented “The students look forward to working with the tutor from SATRO each week and are very proud of their new skills and of the useful items that they make”.

Woodlands is in Leatherhead and is a school for children aged 2–19 with a range of difficulties including severe learning difficulties and complex needs. The SATRO Mobile Classroom will be teaching the schools 6^th Form Students construction skills to enable them to extend, enhance and learn new manual skills.

The school have appreciated the benefit of the SATRO offer which gives the students opportunities to develop their awareness of safety, how to follow instructions, learn new and different vocabulary, work as part of a team or in a group, learn to take turns and work independently. The SATRO Mobile Construction Classroom is very exciting for the students; and provides them with different stimulation and the opportunity to learn by doing which suits the learning style of many of the students. The school very much appreciates that this opportunity would not be available to us without the financial support of the “Give it Away” Charity or the expertise of Surrey SATRO. 

SATRO RECEIVES £10,000 GRANT FROM HEATHROW COMMUNITY FUND

 TO FUND SATRO MOBILE CLASSROOM CONSTRUCTION COURSE AT

SUNBURY MANOR SCHOOL, SUNBURY-ON-THAMES, MIDDLESEX

SATRO is delighted to announce that Heathrow Community Fund has donated £5,000 towards the cost of the SATRO Mobile Construction Classroom to attend Sunbury Manor School, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex on a weekly basis. SATRO runs a fleet of five mobile classrooms which attend schools across Surrey and its boards teaching up to BTEC Level 1 Building and Construction Skills to Years 10 and 11 students. 

Louise Duncan, HeadTeacher said “We have worked for years with SATRO Mobile Classroom for our Year 10 and Year 11 students and it has made such a difference to them.  They have relished the opportunity for more hands on practical work, enjoyed developing their skills and working in a completely different environment.  For some students it has given them an opportunity to succeed in a way which more academic subjects have not always offered them.  It has also had such a beneficial impact on their other students as they have seen the Construction Classroom as something special for them, somewhere where they can succeed and work in a different way and for many it has shown them a way into college.  We were so disappointed that for financial reasons we were not able to continue this provision and so grateful for the injection of funding from Heathrow Community Fund which means we will be able to do so.  It will make such a difference to our next cohort of Year 10 students, thank you.”

Heathrow Community Fund also donated £5,000 to SATRO to help fund a new van for this much needed programme.

Heathrow Community Fund is part of an independent grant–making charity set up by Heathrow’s owners to support and strengthen local communities close to the airport.  In the past two years it has donated more than £1 million through three grant programmes, funding projects which support young people, help protect the environment and support active local communities.  Funds come from an annual donation from the airport, donations from airline passengers and fine imposed on aircraft that breach noise limits.  

Sara Ahmed - SATROclub Extended Research Placement at Jacobs

Sara Ahmed of Rosebery School has just completed her SATROclub Extended Work Placement at Jacobs, an engineering company. Here she has been focussing on Civil Engineering, and completing a project on Building Information Modelling (BIM). We asked Sara to update us on her progress each week, here's what she had to say!...

Week One

"With the first week of my placement coming to an end, I am happy to say that it’s been such an amazing experience so far! Everybody I've encountered at Jacob’s seems only too happy to help me with any queries and I’m really enjoying the experience in Civil Engineering! My report, which seemed absolutely impossible on the first day, is now coming along nicely. I've even managed to fit in some 3D Modelling."

Week Two

"My second week is going just as well as the first!

In addition to having written the majority of my report, I've attended teleconferences and rail meetings as well as doing my own CAD Modelling on Bentley Microstation. I'm loving the experience and find the day going so fast."

Week Three

"As my last week at Jacobs draws to a close, I find myself feeling quite disappointed that I have to go. I've learned an incredible amount about Civil Engineering and the construction industry and everybody here has been so happy to help with my report!"

We wish Sara the best of luck for the future!

John Faulkner on Sir Barnes Wallis

If you have been involved with Surrey SATRO Mega-Structures challenge you will have found that the strongest shape, that uses struts, is a triangle.  The triangle can be formed into a geodesic, a special curved design that can be used to form spherical shapes. The geodesic was used for the first time by Barnes Wallis to create strong lightweight airframes in his aircraft designs.

Sir Barnes Wallis was a pioneering scientist, engineer and inventor who used his skills during the Second World War to help defeat Nazi Germany. By designing powerful weapons to target vital war infrastructure he invented the bouncing bomb that breached the Ruhr dams and the 10 tonne earthquake bomb used to destroy hardened concrete defences. Surviving bombs can be seen at the Brooklands Museum, Weybridge. Barnes Wallis lived in Effingham and worked at the Weybridge aircraft factory developing his world leading designs.

He was a leading Effingham village resident and is buried in St Lawrence's Churchyard. He died in 1979 aged 92 and a headstone there depicts his achievements as one of our WW2 heroes. So if you are building Mega-Structures think of Barnes Wallis, one of our greatest inventors, giving a nod of approval at your triangles!

- John Faulkner, SATRO Volunteer

SATROMobile Student Prize Scheme

This year we have introduced a student prize scheme for students working with our construction mobiles. Supported by The Carl Burrows Trust, prizes have been presented to twelve students for their application, effort and attitude as well as skill. Nicky Burrows from the trust and Rob Riddelsdell from SATRO were able to visit and make the presentations at several of the schools. After such a successful trial we hope to extend the scheme across the whole mobiles programme next year.

"Recognition and reward for his performance is a huge boost for him and makes a big difference. Just look at his face. This is a great idea.” (Headteacher)

Increase in BTEC pass rate for SATROmobiles!

This year, an impressive 84.5% of students working with our construction mobiles passed their BTEC qualification. This is an improvement on excellent results last year. “A great achievement”, said Rob Riddelsdell (Senior Manager at SATRO). “The students respond so well to our tutors from the construction industry.” 

SATRO would like to congratulate all SATROmobile students for their achievements this year. We wish you all the best in the future.

MEGA STRUCTURES CHALLENGE @ GLEBELANDS SCHOOL

180 year 9 students at Glebelands School are currently participating in SATRO's Mega-Structures Challenge, in which they have to construct a bridge made from paper sticks, held together with nuts and bolts. Their brief is to design and build a bridge that can hold the most weight! Problem solving and teamwork are key elements of the session. 

How to become an Apprentice

On Monday 31^st October, SATRO arranged for Kevin Cowan from ATL, the leading training provider of building services training, to speak to our Year 11 Construction Bus class at Oxted School, Surrey.

The school  told us “The talk he gave made a real impact and engagement from the kids was fantastic!”, “Happy for many more of this type of provider to come and talk to the kids”,  and “We will soon be arranging a visit to ATL to show the kids how it all works”.

The Construction Bus visits Oxted School every Monday and Tuesday.

5th October 11 - Gifted year 8 Construction, Engineering and Design

72 students from 9 schools took part in the Gifted Year 8 Construction, Engineering and Design Challenge at Royal Alexandra & Albert School. The students were put into mixed school groups and were given the task of building an Olympic Stadium, below are some of the comments from them:

"It wasn't like i thought it would be at all. I liked working with new people but i was surprised that we weren't working with our school. I liked today!"

"The Independence of the day. This was however, a good thing as it helped develop our skills"

"How we decide every last detail about the stadium, especially the capacity, size and cost".