Students Gain Work Experience Opportunities in France

Construction students from Sussex Coast College Hastings recently returned from a two-week work experience trip in Northern France.

6 plumbing, carpentry and bricklaying students travelled to Tinchebray, a small town just outside Flers on border of Calvados and Orne, to help renovate a historic building.

Students submit CVs and a covering letter to register their interest and were chosen based on their credentials, attendance, and commitment to the course.

The trip gave the students valuable experience in working on a ‘live‘ project to complete a number of carpentry and construction tasks, which included building timber frame walls and laying flooring joists.

Plumbing student, Joseph Daniels, said: “It was a great two weeks in France and I learned so much. Our tasks were all linked back to our learning at college so we all had a clear understanding of how our theory is put into practice.”

“A typical day would start with a site and safety briefing, and then we’d get on with our set tasks. Lunch was provided on-site, and then at the end of each day we had a de-brief and team discussion.”

“We had shared accommodation, staying in traditional gîtes, and during our free time we got to learn a bit about the history of the area and visited the Omaha beach cemetery, which remembered soldiers from the D-Day landing; went to a Norman Conquest museum, and visited a local sawmill.”

This is the second time that construction students have visited northern France to work on the project, with another 30 places available for the next trip planned for late February 2018.