The supervised visits for children at St Francis RC Primary School and Niddrie Mill Primary School were arranged by affordable housing developer Lovell which is building a major housing development for Link Group at Wauchope Square, Craigmillar, next to the two schools as part of the regeneration of the area spearheaded by PARC Craigmillar.
The visits form part of the ongoing safety awareness campaign by Lovell to warn children and young people never to play on construction sites or near construction activity.
“Although it’s fun for the children, the visits have a serious purpose,” says Lovell project manager Bryan Worth. “We talk about the potential dangers on site and help them understand what can go wrong if they go on to a site unsupervised. Our aim is to drive home the important message that they should never view construction sites as a playground and that they should stay safe by staying away.”
“By actively involving the children in creating a meaningful safety message it brings home the sense of reality of the situation,” says class teacher Kathryn Foley at Niddrie Mill Primary. “The children are then equipped to make informed decisions for themselves, rather than simply being told what they should or should not do.”
The youngsters were shown the new housing under construction and some of the equipment used such as safety hard hats and hi-visibility clothing and diggers. They also had the opportunity to be photographed at the controls of a 16-tonne excavator.
“The children very much enjoyed their visit to the construction site and were keen to share their knowledge and understanding of being safe on a building site on their return to school,” says Margot MacAlister, acting head teacher at St Francis RC Primary School. “It was also a valuable opportunity for the school to develop links with Lovell during the regeneration programme.
In addition, Lovell is holding poster competitions at each school inviting pupils to design posters reinforcing the message that children should never go unsupervised on to a building site.
Lovell is building 58 homes for Link Group at Wauchope Square in Phase 8 of a major regeneration development by joint venture company PARC.
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