Bellway hosts 120 schoolchildren at construction site in Worthing

The homebuilder is building apartments and houses at its Elizabeth Square development off Barrington Road, which neighbours the school.

And on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 November, 120 Year 6 pupils from the school were invited on site to take part in a variety of fun activities to help them learn more about how homes are constructed.

The children had also taken part in an art competition in which they drew pictures of their dream home, and during their visits they could see their artwork on hoarding at the site.

The pupils were all told about the rules and risks of being on a live construction site and were given PPE to wear.

Four classes from the school took part in the visits and they were given the chance to see a roof on the ground and lay a tile on it, to chalk their name on a brick and lay it on a wall, to do a building-related word search and to build their own roof carcass with coffee stirrers and glue.

They were shown a home under construction where they had the chance to stick some plasterboard to a wall. There was also an opportunity to ask contractors questions about their work and the children were allowed to sit inside a digger or a dumper truck.

Hadleigh Bayley, Year 6 teacher at West Park C of E Primary School, said: “It was wonderful to see the children's enthusiasm at Bellway, which enabled them to gain an authentic experience into the construction industry. They really enjoyed seeing behind the scenes: learning about the materials, how to fix roof tiles, laying bricks and playfully fixing plasterboard to render an internal wall! Fantastic!

Dave Beaney, Year 6 teacher at West Park C of E Primary School, said: “Our school trip to the Bellway Construction site was an incredible experience for the students of West Park, offering them a hands-on glimpse into the world of construction and engineering. Watching the students’ curiosity come alive as they saw machinery in action, talked to skilled workers, and learned about safety procedures was truly rewarding. Overall, it was an invaluable, engaging learning opportunity that I’m sure they’ll remember for years to come.”

At the end of the visit the winners of the art competition were also presented with prizes.

Daniel Williamson, Sales Director for Bellway South London, said: “It was great to host the visits from West Park C of E Primary School and we hope that they had a memorable day and went away knowing more about what building houses is all about.

“As the school is right next to our Elizabeth Square development, we were keen to make links and build a good relationship with the school and I’m sure the youngsters were curious about what we are building.

“Our team put a lot of thought into creating an immersive and informative experience that the children would enjoy and making sure that they were safe on site throughout the visit while still allowing them to get a feel for what we do here.

“And we were very impressed with the children’s drawings which were full of imaginative and colourful ideas about the kind of property they would love to live in when they’re grown up. The artwork has gone on display on hoardings on site for all our visitors and site team to see.”