News

On Tuesday 13th June, a group of Year 6 students from the Oasis Academy Byron in Coulson visited the Walter Lilly head office in East Croydon to spend the day learning and working as a team in construction.

Organised by Enabling Enterprise, the students have engaged in a range of projects, including designing and launching a new chocolate brand and designing a transport prototype that would be suitable for the year 3030!

So far this year, students have completed the Future Transport challenge day, when they researched, designed, built and tested innovative new forms of transport. A visit to Walter Lilly was a chance for the Year 6 students to venture out of school to apply skills such as Aiming High and Working in a Team.

Six Walter Lilly staff from different departments of the company, including Managing Director Andrew Crispin, joined Oasis Academy Byron students for the day, supporting them in their construction-themed challenge.

The kids were set with a task to address the area of Bogsby which has an empty brownfield site in the centre of the community. The challenge was to redevelop the land and create a space that would benefit the local people and the environment. Before sharing ideas and deciding on what they were going to construct, teams needed to look at the needs of the people of Bogsby and ensure that the new development was environmentally friendly. After building a model of their planned building, the teams ended the day by presenting their ideas to a judging panel of Walter Lilly and Enabling Enterprise staff.

Students wowed their teachers with their ability to work in teams with students they wouldn’t normally sit with. They developed their Listening Carefully skills by taking notes and asking questions about what they’d heard the volunteers say. They also demonstrated great Using Imagination skills when developing ideas for the redevelopment.

What they said:
“Today was a great experience for our students: seeing how different departments work together in a business and how ‘Sketch-up’, a programme we use in school, is used by professionals. It was great for them to find out what the professionals at Walter Lilly wanted to be when they were in primary school and how they got to where they are today. The structure and pace of the challenge was well suited and I have loved seeing how the skills of this class have improved since they first started Enabling Enterprise in Year 3.” – Teacher, Oasis Academy Byron

“I found the day really interesting and enjoyable. It was impressive how quickly the students grasped the tasks and challenges and the enthusiasm they showed. The best bit was seeing how they pulled together to create a 3D model in less than 20 minutes!” – Andrew, Managing Director, Walter Lilly

“The best things today was making our model, the hardest thing was presenting at the end. I feel I learned a lot about building.” – Student, Oasis Academy Byron

Thanks to Walter Lilly for such a great trip day, and to Year 6 from Oasis Academy Byron for coming along.

Enabling Enterprise are working in partnership with schools and businesses to support students to build enterprise skills and aspirations. Find out more by contacting us or visiting enablingenterprise.org