HEADLINE STORY
New schools welcomed to the
DEC family around the world
Education Director Daniel McDonagh and
Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Provost and Chief Executive Officer of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia.
New DEC Schools and the support of HWU in Malaysia
Class Of Your Own has returned from an inspiring week in Malaysia, filled with new connections, conversations and exciting beginnings for the DEC family.
Daniel McDonagh, our Education Director, kicked off the week with a CPD workshop at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur, exploring how we can give young people the skills, confidence and opportunities to make a positive difference through their learning.
We also joined the UK-Malaysia Education Joint Working Group, bringing together UK businesses and Malaysian education stakeholders to share expertise around digital education. COYO was nominated to lead the STEM working group alongside other EdTech innovators.
There was plenty to celebrate too. Alice Smith School and St Joseph’s Institution International School have officially joined the DEC family, while HELP International School continues to lead the way, with Alastair Kwan named New DEC Teacher of the Year.
The schools came together at Heriot-Watt University to formalise our relationship through a new Memorandum of Understanding, creating opportunities for talent development and knowledge exchange.
And the conversations are already reaching further, with Johnny Ong from Penang STEM joining us to explore a DEC-focused STEM project with 10 schools in Penang – potentially reaching around 250 students and encouraging their interest in Built Environment careers.
Perhaps the best part of the trip was the people: their warmth, enthusiasm and willingness to collaborate. We’re excited to see the DEC community in Malaysia continue to grow.
DEC launches in India with the RICS
Here’s our own Vicki Irving with lead DEC teacher Arshdeep Kaur and fellow teachers at Oakridge International School following their training workshop in July 2026.
Oakridge International School Bengaluru became the first Design Engineer Construct! school in India in July 2026, adopted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Following an introduction by the Rt Hon Lord Jim Knight, Principal Kavita Sukhani agreed to establish the school as a DEC Teacher Training Hub, enabling local teachers to train alongside international school staff and take built environment learning back into their own classrooms.
COYO is also working with Oakridge to develop a new ‘Design a Community Data Centre’ DEC Award. Once piloted, it will be shared with DEC Schools around the world, helping young people explore how digital infrastructure can be designed responsibly for communities, sustainability and social value.
DEC goes Stateside at BISNY
Justin Welham leads DEC at BISNY, Manhattan, USA
The British International School of New York has become the first school in the USA to deliver Design Engineer Construct!, led by DEC teacher Justin Welham, formally of Uptown International School, Dubai.
The school is embedding DEC across Years 7-9, with ambitions to build much stronger pathways from school into professional built environment careers.
We’re excited to watch the development of a DEC Teaching Academy for local teachers. More on this next month!
From the classroom in Qatar to UNGA, New York
In September, COYO’s Alison Watson was invited to join Elizabeth Kennedy, Director of ‘Academyati’, the Qatar Foundation’s first progressive school at Goals House in New York during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The UNGA session featured a traditional ‘Majlis’, a community gathering, to discuss “Tradition Meets Tomorrow – Unlocking Knowledge for the Future”.
The session highlighted how Design Engineer Construct! has supported Academyati in connecting place, culture, sustainability and the built environment with purposeful learning. Two Academyati DEC students joined the conversation and had the opportunity to share their culture and learning as part of the global conversation.
Academyati is our first DEC school in Qatar and the story began months earlier in Doha, when Vicki Irving, COYO’s Head of Teacher Training, worked alongside 12 Academyati teachers and senior leaders to introduce DEC across different key stages.
Vicki brought considerable practitioner experience to the partnership, having previously embedded DEC from Year 7 to Year 13 at Alder grange School for more than a decade. The development included a two-day teacher training programme led by Vicki and Sayyam Rabbani, our Digital Infrastructure Learning and Training Assistant.
Design a sustainable racetrack
Schools around the world registered this year for the 2026 COYO Challenge, supported by Ridge & Partners (including newly acquired track design experts, Driven International), Bentley Education and Silverstone.
Students aged 13–17 are designing the safest, fastest and most sustainable racetrack they can, bringing together surveying, infrastructure, digital design, sustainability and engineering.
We’ve had schools enter from all over the world and as we look towards the finish line, there’s still time to seek support from industry if you want it!
There’s a very special prize awaiting the winners – a VIP week with leading track design and engineering professionals and a day at the British Grand Prix in July 2027.
For all those with FOMO, don’t worry – next year’s challenge will launch in the new year with new and exciting theme.
We’ve moved!
This September, Class Of Your Own moved into the Renold Building in Manchester, a dynamic hub and great new office space.
The building is a host to other sustainability and innovation-led businesses, so we feel right at home. If you fancy a nice coffee and conversation, here’s where to find us:
Renold Building
32a Altrincham Street
Manchester M1 7JR
Your students – their success stories
Each month, we love to feature news from DEC Ambassadors, past students who are out there in the real world continuing their achievements since they left school and supporting those who are following in their footsteps.
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
NO WORK WITHOUT PLAY
Sayyam
One of Sayyam’s highlights has been to work on a session for students in India using Homestyler, a 3D interior home design platform that allows you to create floor plans and virtual spaces. This session is focused on showing sustainable design ideas such as green roofs, solar panels and rainwater harvesting in their models. Part of Sayyam’s focus is working on specific issue requests so that the schools time using the software is easier.
Outside of work, Sayyam is enjoying watching his little boy grow and become more curious about everything around him. He now joyfully recognises his own reflection and is getting stronger by the day.
Alli
Alli thoroughly enjoyed attending the ‘Making Education Relevant’ Conference last week as there were lots of interesting discussions. She particularly enjoyed hearing from Anthony Willoughby about his travels and how this has informed his territory mapping. A big thank you to Elfyn Wyn Jones and the team behind this event.
Outside of work, Alli has completed another leg of the Cotswold Way, exploring the natural landscape and understanding more about where she grew up. She also visited Alfred Works in Birmingham; an amazing regeneration project focused on social dining and community spaces. She particularly enjoyed the Slow Cooked Lamb Loaded Fries from Baity Palestinian Kitchen.
Simon
Simon is making great headway on the DEC Bridge content – helping to connect early careers teams to extraordinary young people. DEC Bridge helps to prepare students for progression and to contribute towards this they can receive application and interview support. Part of Simon’s September has been focusing on tone within the content, to ensure it doesn’t sound lecturing in any way. We want to encourage students ensuring we’re maintaining a positive attitude in an already daunting and competitive stage of their lives.
One of Simon’s personal highlights is slowing down and taking the time to watch the world go by after his Pilates session. Normally, running around and rarely stopping means he doesn’t catch what’s around him, but last week Simon enjoyed a cup of the best coffee in Leeds before cycling back home. Hopefully we can all take a leaf out of his book this coming month.
Rob
UTC Reading is rejoining the DEC family! And Rob is excited about it. Their head teacher Jennie Thompson is enthusiastically leading her team into a new programme of DEC activity.
Supported by their adopter, The University of the Built Environment, an exciting programme is planned for the school starting with a full day employability day project in November.
Students will be challenged to devise a scheme for a local site that takes into account a range of stakeholders, all with their own objectives, aspirations and concerns for development!
Outside of work, Rob turned 40 last weekend and is possibly still managing his headache.
Vicki
The excitement for Vicki and the team is building as we get closer to the 29th of October, when our first cohort of the BEST Teacher Training initiative begins. We have 8 people, based in Cheshire, that have signed up for the pilot. These candidates are mostly industry professionals – looking to transfer their experience into teaching at FE College’s. Many thanks to the Health Delivery Partnership (HDP), the Programme Delivery Partner for the New Hospital Programme, for collaborating with COYO on this mission to tackle the construction skills shortage at source! The second cohort will start in January, this time in Greater Manchester.
Vicki has also celebrated her birthday this month and alongside work is now trying to conjure up a plan of how to spin time backwards.
Angela
Angela is grateful to Robertson Construction Group Ltd who continue to support Class Of Your Own through the Legacy funding of DEC at the Perth High School, Scotland. This fantastic school offers DEC at Level 1 and 2, led by teacher, Paul Stainer. This has sparked an important conversation with Robertson’s, focused on raising the profile of Built Environment careers in Scottish schools– more to come on that next month!
And a new experience for Angela: a sound bath. No water involved but gongs and chimes created using crystal singing bowls which she found very relaxing!
Kate
Kate is making way through her PR & Communications apprenticeship with COYO, enjoying getting to know the team, company and its purpose. She’s particularly enjoyed the new office move in day, being able to see all team together in a room to discuss their strategy for the coming months.
Outside of work, Kate has recently moved to Manchester and is endlessly searching Facebook Marketplace for a bike. She has spent all of her budget on gigs for next month and can’t wait for autumn to be in full swing.
Education Estates 2026 conference – 20th – 21st October 2026 at Manchester Central
Class Of Your Own has been a proud supporter of Manchester’s Education Estates conference for many years.
As usual, there are FREE TICKETS for DEC students and graduates to get involved in the ‘Future Leaders Programme’, giving them access to everything regular delegates enjoy, so they can meet industry leaders, join insightful sessions and see the latest innovations in educational environments first hand.
Inspire the next generation of problem-solvers with the ICE CityZen Award!
The ICE CityZen Award is a UK-wide competition that challenges students aged 16-18 to tackle real-world built environment issues through creative thinking, design and problem-solving.
Students gain valuable insight into careers in civil engineering and the wider built environment sector, while developing skills that support UCAS, apprenticeships and future employment applications.
There are great prizes to be won including up to £2,000 cash (split between students and school) and the competitions are free.
Do you have some DEC-related news to go in our next issue?
Kate, our PR and Comms Assistant would love to hear from you:
