Oliver Bird

My name is Oliver Bird, I am 16 years old and I am a pupil at Northfleet Technology College. Having recently passed all my GSCE’s I am now in Sixth Form studying Geography, Art & Design, Engineering and Maths.

I believe that these subjects would provide me with a great foundation to study and pursue a career in architecture in the future. Being an architect to me this is one of the most crucial professions in the world. It has the power to change people's lives by providing people with comfortable, well-designed homes to live in.

I am currently volunteering to help students in Year 11 in preparing for their GCSE’s. This has helped me in building confidence in speaking others. Also, as part of my sixth form courses over the next 2 years I am required to work 50 hours within the voluntary sector. I am considering working with RNID, which is a national hearing loss charity. This is something that interests me as my father and his family are hard of hearing and as a family will often use sign language. Although I have no qualification in British Sign Language, this is something that I would like to work towards.

In the summer of 2022 I was incredibly fortunate to spend a week at Persimmon Homes for my word experience assignment. During the week I was given multiple tasks to complete, including designing a new estate, which included visiting a brown field site where we surveyed and took measurements of the area. I used CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to place houses, utilities and services to complete my assignment.

This was an incredibly rewarding experience, and validated to me that architecture was a future career choice for me. The week also taught me about team-work, planning and collaboration. I also received incredible positive feedback about my attitude and performance, so has given me confidence in my future endeavours.

Outside of school, I have a range of interests. I am a footballer, playing for a local team as a Goalkeeper. I have had a great experience growing up playing since I was 7 years old for various teams in the local area. I also spent four years in the Dartford Academy where I regularly played against teams such as Oxford, Brentford, Arsenal, West Ham and Wycombe Wanderers. Last year I was also given the opportunity to play in an international tournament in the north of France against teams from the area as well as Germany and Spain.

Playing as part of a team has provided me with life skills, team work, social interaction as well as ensuring that I remain fit and healthy. All of these attributes will hopefully hold me in good stead as I continue my studies.

I have some hobbies, these include playing football, creative arts, socialising with friends and family.