The first Roofing in the Classroom course was delivered at St Mungo’s High School in Falkirk on 8 December 2017.

The course was developed by Rooftec (Scotland) Ltd of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors in conjunction with Dale Lyon (who developed Concrete in the Classroom) and Historic Environment Scotland.

The course was broken down into five sections covering:

• A general overview of roofing and the various types of roofs & roofing materials used. To highlight the difference between man made products and natural products, with an end focus on slate,

• Understanding of how natural slate occurs and varies from quarry to quarry, country to country. Gain the ability to hand cut slate and make a shaped coaster to take away,

• Understand the importance of and responsibility towards health and safety with a focus on working at heights,

• Understand how slates are fixed to a roof structure to ensure the building will remain watertight. Understand how the correct slate overlap is essential to a well performing roof and how this differentiates depending on the roof pitch- measured in degrees. Gain the ability to use measuring tape. End lesson with a slate roof design having been created to carry forward to next lesson, and

• Follow lesson 4 drawing plan to create a completed slate roof jig emulating a real life scenario of concept to creation through the use of measuring tapes and methodical thinking.

Funding was received from Historic Environment Scotland to pilot this course in five secondary schools in the Forth Valley area. At the end of the pilot there will be a review of the course content and feedback from the school pupils and teachers to determine how to take this forward.

Several other trades are being considered as we look to deliver traditional buildings skills in schools.

This course builds on the traditional building skills demonstrations which the Scottish Traditional Building Forum has been involved in the delivery of.