Contractor John Weaver provides enterprise education programme at two South Wales schools

South Wales contractor John Weaver is giving back to communities in which it’s working by providing the Bumbles of Honeywood enterprise education programme to two Welsh medium schools: Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg y Castell in Caerphilly and Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Santes Tudful in Merthyr Tydfil.

Created by South Wales-based 2B Enterprising Ltd, The Bumbles of Honeywood is a suite of bilingual resources mapped to the national curriculum to help primary schools embed enterprise skills into their day-to-day learning. It’s delivered in schools via the 2B Enterprising Corporate Engagement Partner programme, which pairs businesses with local schools.

As Corporate Engagement Partners, members of the John Weaver team will visit Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg y Castell and Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Santes Tudful to introduce the programme and talk with the children about John Weaver’s work in the area. The company is currently undertaking conservation and construction work at Caerphilly Castle, where it is building a new visitor centre, and carrying out a complete refurbishment of Merthyr Tydfil YMCA.

John Weaver combines strong traditional values of craftsmanship with the very latest in construction techniques and materials, working on new builds and refurbishment projects up to £20m. All work is carried out by its in-house workforce. By talking with the young pupils about the company’s work the team aims to give them inspiration for their future careers and engage them with the exciting work happening at their local landmarks.

Cultivating entrepreneurship and enterprise skills from a young age has been shown to be of huge value in equipping pupils for their future lives and careers – and it’s now required as part of the national curriculum in Wales. The Bumbles of Honeywood programme is Wales’ first bilingual enterprise skills programme for schools. It has been developed by entrepreneurial business leaders and experienced educators with extensive input from teachers.

The programme is built around a series of beautifully illustrated books and interactive extension activities that explore the enterprising nature of honeybees and other characters to help children develop skills such as resilience, problem solving, leadership, communication, and teamwork.

Joan Tamlyn, business development manager at John Weaver, said:

“We are delighted to be working with two Welsh medium schools which are close to our projects in Merthyr and Caerphilly as we wish to give something back in the communities in which we work and promote the Welsh language.  We are looking forward to showing the pupils the amazing career opportunities and projects within construction and when we heard we could take part in delivering an enterprise programme with 2B Enterprising to these local schools it was too good an opportunity to miss. We are looking forward to working with 2B Enterprising and the children and arranging for them to meet our site teams and learn more about the heritage and construction projects we are working on in their communities.”

Jayne Brewer, 2B Enterprising CEO added:

“We are thrilled to be working with John Weaver to deliver this exciting educational programme in schools close to two of John Weaver’s current projects. John Weaver is a shining example of enterprise in action and its team embody the qualities The Bumbles of Honeywood programme sets out to teach. By visiting these schools, they will serve as inspiring role models and help the children engage with the exciting work being carried out at their local landmarks. We very much look forward to delivering The Bumbles of Honeywood programme in partnership with this outstanding South Wales company.”