Children learn the ‘bear’ essentials

Wed, Jun 28th 2006, 11:00

As part of a project to learn how buildings are created, children from William Shrewsbury Primary School, Burton-on-Trent were treated to a day out at Redrow’s Meadow Brook site in Hilton.

On hand to welcome the excited group of five and six-year-olds to Meadow Brook was Buster the Bear, Redrow’s health and safety mascot. The children were taught how buildings are created and at the same time warned of the dangers of children playing on building sites.

Jackie Pearson, year one teacher at William Shrewsbury, said: “The children were close to completing a topic on buildings and building materials and the visit finished off the work they had been doing. We first walked around Stretton to look at different types of buildings and then went to the Redrow site to see how houses are made.

“It was a wonderful trip and the children really enjoyed themselves. They learnt a lot about the building process and had fun at the same time, watching the diggers and playing with Buster.”

Buster also gave out copies of his specially designed pack, ‘Buster Rules OK’, which is filled with jokes, puzzles and activities, to help children learn about the potential hazards on construction sites.

Julia Pallister, sales director for Redrow Homes (Midlands), said: “It’s great that Redrow can get involved with the local community in a way which benefits the young children in the area. A visit to the site helped the children from William Shrewsbury to gain a better understanding of what they are learning about in the classroom.

“Giving kids a safety message is so important, especially with the summer break coming up and when building sites are close to schools. Also it’s a good chance for children to see how their community will change and grow with the addition of a new development.”

Redrow has also made a big commitment to education nationally by launching the Redrow Learning Web, an on-line resource which includes a teachers’ area to help plan lessons and guide their pupils, meets with National Curriculum requirements and has been accredited by the National Grid for Learning.

The Learning Web is split into two modules – ‘The House Detectives’, aimed at primary school children aged eight to 11, and ‘Plan It … Build It’, which is targeted at secondary school pupils aged 12 – 16 as part of their citizenship studies.

‘The House Detectives’ enables children to compare and contrast their own community with others around the UK, while ‘Plan It … Build It’ challenges pupils to research, plan and ‘build’ a new development taking into account a full range of issues such as housing supply, planning policy, environmental concerns and sustainability.

To discover the potential of The Redrow Learning Web – including an introduction to Buster the bear - visit www.education.redrow.co.uk