Kier Sheffield is celebrating after one of its employees was presented with the Student of the Year Award on the Kier Integrated Management and Facilities Services Foundation Degree course run by Sheffield Hallam University.

The accolade went to full-time employee and student, Pam Foster, who has just completed the first year of the new course. Pam's career with Kier began as a service planner in 2000. Since then she has progressed to team co-ordinator/customer liaison advisor where her enthusiasm and dedication saw her being nominated for this development course.

The Student of the Year award criteria is established on observations carried out over the academic year based on personal impact and development, responsibility and business impact, and an endorsement from a director. Pam was presented with her special award during a dinner held at Sheffield Hallam University on 11 December.

The bespoke degree course has been specifically developed by Kier Group in conjunction with Sheffield Hallam University. It is an academic and work place learning programme designed to enhance knowledge, skills and experience relevant to the individual's role. The course has been developed to provide broad knowledge of many of Kier Services' areas of business to create a flexible workforce, and follows on from the Kier Foundation Degree in Construction Management, which was created with Sheffield Hallam University to safeguard consistency of content and teaching standards for Kier employees and learners. The duration of the course is three years, and successful delegates receive an FdSc on its completion, with the opportunity to continue for an additional 18 months to 'top up' and achieve a BSc Honours degree.

Kier regional managing director, Simon Bullen, said: "Providing on the job and classroom-based learning opportunities for our team is a high priority at Kier. Having recently marked the completion of almost 3,000 training events this is further evidence of our commitment to invest in our workforce and to develop new skills in order to be safer at work and provide a better quality service for our residents. There are 16 students in total on the first year of this new course from all over the UK, with four from Sheffield, so it's a magnificent achievement for Pam to be selected and recognised by the providers."

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