Sheffield
Property
Association

Inspiring the Future - Careers Outreach Library

21st October 2025

All of the members of the S-PA are connected to the Built Environment and Property sector. Our sector is one that attracts brilliant people but has struggled for many years to attract diverse talent from different communities. We are also aware that our sector faces challenges of skills gaps particularly for operational roles.

It is, therefore, more important than ever that we reach out to and work in partnership with education partners. Only in doing so, can we excite, inform, and inspire the next generation of learners to consider a career in our sector and with our businesses. 

We know our sector offers truly amazing opportunities and careers but now is the time to make sure that learners across our city (and wider region) know it too – and feel welcomed, inspired and encouraged to join us.

The resources shared in this library are available for any SPA member to access to help them on their own approach to working with learners. Some of these resources have been created by industry bodies and others by our own members – we particularly thank ARUP, Whittam Cox and Henry Boot for generously sharing their resources.

The member resources are not intended to be used by other members in their current format but can provide guidance on how to create your own resources and what you may wish to include.

All of the resources below, unless stated otherwise, are for students at secondary school (aged 11-18). We hope to add additional resources as time goes on with a greater focus on primary school students.

Getting Started

The first organisation we would recommend you getting in touch with is See it Be it (Employer Encounters | See it Be it). This is the team from Sheffield City Council who are experts on partnering businesses with schools and they can help you find the best opportunities for your business to make a positive impact with local learners. This can be everything from ‘Give an Hour’ to taking on work experience placements.

The following resources are also excellent and a good place to find out more:

Sessions in Schools

Very often, the easiest way to engage with learners is to visit schools to deliver sessions about your career and/or industry. Sessions can range from short sessions (1 hour e.g. a school assembly) to all day sessions or even multiple sessions over a week.

Below are presentations from Henry Boot Construction and ARUP that they deliver when going into schools to talk about their business, the projects they are working on, and the different career pathways.

HBD - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HkQh7WojDRBQWSP8OB1q8WF_SakZbt5k/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=115375978167578382114&rtpof=true&sd=true

Activities

Sometimes you can create the best engagement and excitement by working with students on an activity or game in a classroom or larger setting.

For younger children (Years 7-8), this is very often best kept simple and fun. Henry Boot recommend the ever-popular spaghetti towers or careers top trump card games which can last between 20-40 minutes and requires very little equipment. When delivered in conjunction with a short presentation (see above), these activities offer a fun and practical way to bring the story about our industry to life.

CONSTRUCTION GAMES HOW TO GUIDE

Not all activities have to be completed in person with the students. SPA members and the Children’s University developed the innovative Project in a Box. The purpose of this set of resources is to provide them to schools who can then complete them with students as part of lessons, after school clubs or at other appropriate times. The resources includes information, games and videos aimed at older primary school and younger secondary school children and all can be accessed here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZC6qd2uOUzBczq4YCXBrSjYTMoyZBGHL?usp=sharing

For slightly older children and, when there is more time allotted, a more detailed activity can be an effective way to show them the practical skills needed in our sector and to work alongside them to explain how it works in real life. Our members have created some excellent examples of this type of activity below which you can download and review. 

HBD – HBD have created 3 engaging and fun games and activities for secondary school students to complete (accompanied by instructive presentations about the company and career pathways).

  1. Town Planning – The Town Planning game lets students understand the concepts of town planning and then have a go to plan their own development. All of the resources and information can be found here – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uQgQzmQwwLp-xzN-f8cH8T6l8zYBl8Fc?usp=sharing

  2. Monopoly – a twist on the classic allows students the chance to understand property portfolios and compete to see who can create the most value across their properties. All of the resources and information can be found here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1l9VyloUn1rbF7RElVZthCu7QHBZ9E8wU?usp=drive_link

  3. The Developer Challenge – this challenge finds students tasked with coming up for development proposals for the beautiful listed Salvation Army Citadel based in Sheffield City Centre. All of the resources and information can be found here –https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qj1WYW2oIcgaQpYCTmynY-UIGLnMgiNI/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115375978167578382114&rtpof=true&sd=true

Whittam Cox – Award winning architect firm Whittam Cox developed a masterplan activity in collaboration with the Made in Chesterfield team. The challenge sees teams of students receive a brief to develop a proposal for a site in the centre of Chesterfield and is an engaging and illustrative way for students to understand everything from financial planning to sustainability. All of the resources and information can be found here – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T4ewPSNYHLq264L5eaxIt6wMk-GwTwl2?usp=sharing

ARUP –  Global engineering design consultancy developed lesson plans focussed on introducing civil and structural engineering to secondary school students. The “introduce” sessions for year 7-9 which feature 2 different hour-long lesson plans relating civil and structural engineering to curriculum concepts. The “explore” sessions for years 10-12 then builds on the introduce session by allowing the students to take on different roles within a design team to create a development proposal as well as explaining the key career pathways for the roles they are trying out. All of the resources and information can be found here –https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jUS_CHWKJxhxBNI33FO57Zk8RTRDRaWX?usp=sharing

Site Visits

Another brilliant way to inspire learners is to show them the industry at first hand. Bringing young people out of school and on to site can really excite them about what working in property can look like.

If planning a site visit, please ensure you make contact with the school with lots of notice to enable sufficient time to plan the details. Most schools will require a risk assessment and you will usually need to provide the required personal protective equipment (PPE) for the students and staff. 

Please also ensure that you have the correct insurance policies in place to cover any associated risks with the visit.

CASE STUDY

Work Experience

Many students will seek to gain a work experience placement during their time at school. This can be an excellent opportunity for your business to engage a pipeline of future and diverse talent and to demonstrate social value to your customers.

The main trick to successful work experience is forward planning – making sure you have a range of activities and opportunities for the young person to take part in during their time with you will mean they are more likely to enjoy themselves and learn. No one wants to spend a week at the photocopier!

Below are some excellent industry guides on how to set up and deliver work experience placements as well as some of the practical issues to consider when doing so:


The Law Society  Work experience placements: best practice guidance for employers | The Law Society