Pupils from St Columba’s Catholic Primary School received a lesson in site safety from local housebuilder St. Modwen Homes; the developer behind the Park View housing scheme in Longbridge, near Birmingham.
The session was led by St. Modwen Homes’ health and safety team alongside the Considerate Constructor’s mascot, Ivor Goodsite at the school. During the lesson, pupils were invited to try on various pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), including high visibility jackets, safety helmets and steel-capped boots, helping the children to understand just how dangerous building sites can be.
The safety lesson follows the announcement that construction is underway on the second phase of housing at Park View, which is located on Lickey Road just a short distance away from the school. Construction is also underway on the new Longbridge town centre which is due to open this autumn and is being delivered by St. Modwen, the parent company of St. Modwen Homes.
Andrew Smyllie, headteacher at St Columba’s said: “Building sites are always intriguing places for youngsters, especially as the various diggers and scaffolding make it seem like a really exciting place to explore. With this in mind, it is incredibly important that the children learn just how dangerous construction areas can be and why it is necessary for them not to enter the site.
“It was great to see the pupils really engage with the safety lesson – particularly the hugely entertaining Ivor Goodsite – and they have also completed posters offering various safety tips ahead of their site visit to Park View next month.”
The pupils from St. Columba will be visiting the Park View construction site in the upcoming weeks to watch the activity taking place behind the hoardings and to find out exactly what could be hazardous to people on the site. Additionally, St. Modwen Homes has launched a poster competition with the school where the pupil with the best design will win vouchers for Toys R Us and a selection of the best posters will be displayed at the site.
