Construction training delivers alternative schooling for Blackpool teenagers with joinery and brick-laying on the curriculum

Which is appropriate - as within its walls the next generation is being trained to be part of what is hopefully a new era of construction in the town.

The building on Stanley Road, which once housed The Blackpool Gazette's printing presses, is now filled with workshops and classrooms where young people aged 14 to 16 are learning skills ranging from joinery to brick laying.

Thursdays and Fridays during term time are dedicated to Year 10 and Year 11 pupils from secondary schools across Blackpool, who attend regular school for the other three days of the week.

The programme has been set up in partnership with Blackpool Council, aimed at providing alternative provision for youngsters who struggle with traditional learning.

It is hoped providing a vocational option will boost their chances of finding employment, build up confidence and help fill a skills gap.

David Hodge, a director of Unique Training Group and one of the trainers himself, said: "We start the children off in the workshops where they learn skills such as brickwork, joinery, painting and decorating, plumbing and plastering.

"The workshop is the carrot to encourage them to listen and learn, and then we move into small classrooms to teach the theory.

"A lot of the youngsters want to go into the construction trades, and we are giving them the skills needed for those industries.

"Many of the kids would struggle to complete a full school day in a traditional classroom setting, but they want to be here and learn.

"Their attendance at school has increased between six per cent and 10 per cent as a result of the two-day offer at Unique."

A large workshop houses tools and work benches where youngster learn joinery skills ranging from fitting a kitchen or door, to how to build a roof for a house.

David said: "One of the challenges we give them is to develop and make a trebuchet (a type of medieval catapult).

"The whole point is they have to design it, work out the correct pivot point and how the projectile fires. So it's the whole design process, thinking about it and the maths around it."

Teaching assistant Peter Riley's role includes helping youngsters learn the arts of brick-laying, plastering and rendering.

He said: "I have pupils who at first say they can't do it, but by the end are able to build a brick archway and I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing what they are able to achieve.

"It's about giving them an idea and the facilities to produce that idea."

Koben Threlfall, 14, a pupil at St George's School in Marton, hopes the skills he is learning will help him get a job or even start up his own business one day.

He said: "We are learning lots of different things like brick laying and woodwork, and sometimes we are in the classroom as well.

"I'm also in school three days a week, but I've found the techniques I'm learning here have really boosted my confidence.

"Also, these are skills which hopefully could lead to an apprenticeship and a job eventually or I might even set up my own business."

The young people are also learning skills which are in demand, especially as Blackpool sees developments such as the £300m Blackpool Central leisure investment begin to take shape.

A key element of the regeneration of the town is to ensure residents are equipped with the right skills to take advantage of such regeneration projects.

David added: "There is a huge skills shortage in the construction industry, and many of the children who come here are from deprived areas so the opportunity for them to get an apprenticeship is huge.

"We also aim for the skills we give them to be transferable if in the end construction isn't for them.

"For some of the kids, they didn't know what they wanted to do, but they are now focused on getting an apprenticeship.

"The children we have here might one day be working on the big projects coming to Blackpool in the future such as Blackpool Central."