SURVEY Fest

London, UK, 22 May 2019 – A new partnership has been announced at GEO Business 2019 between Get Kids Into Survey (GKIS) and Class of Your Own (COYO), along with plans to deliver their first joint event: SURVEY Fest, Geospatial Education For All. The event will address their common goal of encouraging more students to consider a career in surveying.

SURVEY Fest will take place on 1 October 2019 at St Ambrose Barlow RC High School in Swinton, Greater Manchester, UK. Primary and high school students and teachers from the wider area will be invited to attend a fully immersive, interactive day of geospatial learning. While the young people are learning about the world of geospatial surveying and engineering, the teachers will be shown how to incorporate Get Kids Into Survey’s materials and COYO’s Design Engineer Construct! (DEC) learning programme into their own schools. DEC teachers, existing and past DEC students, university undergraduates and tutors, and geospatial professionals will all be invited to inspire pupils with a range of focused, fun activities. The event will be sponsored and supported by organisations active within the geospatial surveying sector.

“We want industry professionals to exhibit, but not in the traditional sense,” says Elly Ball, CEO of GKIS. “We’re planning an interactive learning environment which will be loads of fun – but at the same time educational, informative and inspirational. This is a great way to bring professionals, academics and schools together to create a fully immersive learning environment. Geospatial surveying offers some of the most exciting high-tech careers in the built environment, but young people typically don’t get to hear about them until well after they’ve committed to their options.”

St Ambrose Barlow RC High School has a well-established relationship with industry and academia, and is no stranger to the world of surveying. It has been delivering the DEC programme for seven years, and is producing some extraordinary young talent. The film https://youtu.be/YexWybx8rSs highlights surveying opportunities to teachers and learners everywhere.

Head teacher, Ben Davis, said, “We have seen for several years the impact of DEC on our pupils, not only in the positive destinations they have secured and the industry-standard work they produce, but also in their literacy and confidence. SURVEY Fest will offer these benefits to participants and inspire them to explore wider horizons. We are thrilled to be hosting it.”

Featured DEC student Stephen Harvey is a shining example. After studying DEC Level 2 and 3, he’s now working for global firm Jacobs and is loving every minute. “It’s a great job,” he says. “Every day is different, and studying DEC gave me a fantastic foundation in what I believe is the best job in the world.” Award-winning DEC teacher Dan McDonagh adds: “Surveying is great – it brings all the STEM subjects together and opens young people’s eyes to a world that very few get to discover. Behind every great building, every road, every bridge, there’s a surveyor. Everyone needs to know about surveying and I’m proud that our school has been picked to host the first SURVEY Fest.”