Quarry helps give young people insight into employment opportunities

April 2008

Students from The College of West Anglia took a close-up look at a local quarry last week to learn more about engineering opportunities available in the minerals industry. The visit to Sibelco’s silica sand operation at Leziate was organised by the College’s Work Based Learning Department as part of its Entry to Employment (E2E) initiative, a work-related programme that offers an alternative learning route for 16–18 year olds who are not yet ready to enter employment, apprenticeship or further training.

Sibelco has been engaged with the College of West Anglia for several years via a successful Engineering Apprenticeship programme and the company was delighted to accommodate last week’s visit of sixteen young people. On a tour of the quarry, staff explained the complex engineering techniques employed in the extraction and processing of sand which is utilised as a raw material in a wide range of applications including windows, bottles, jars and foundry castings.

Carolyn Slynn, E2E Co-ordinator at the College said: “the visit to the quarry was fascinating and provided our students with an invaluable insight into an important local industry and a better understanding of the variety of job roles involved in engineering. Our E2E programme sets out to build confidence and motivation in young people and trips such as this play a key role.”

John McColl of Sibelco who helped organise the event commented: “the visit was a great success and the feedback we received from all those involved was really positive. I think today definitely helped to demonstrate the variety of engineering roles available in the minerals industry.”