PUPILS at Nunnery Wood Primary School have had a lesson in how to stay safe around live construction sites with a school assembly from St. Modwen Homes, the housebuilder behind the new homes at Weogoran Park.

Paul Daniels, senior site manager, and the Considerate Constructors’ mascot ‘Ivor Goodsite’, gave an assembly covering key safety messages asking pupils to identify the large machinery and other potential dangers, such as scaffolding and deep holes.

The children then got an introduction to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), with a group invited to try on hard hats and hi-vis jackets.

Tackling the current skills and diversity gap in the housebuilding industry, the assembly also highlighted the range of careers opportunities available, including technical, planning and sales, as well as traditional trade roles.

Following the assembly, pupils were asked to design a poster to highlight the hazards that can be found on a building site.

The winning posters, as judged by St. Modwen Homes, will be displayed on the hoarding at Weogoran Park.

Paul Daniels, senior site manager at Weogoran Park, said: “Building sites, with their big machinery and new structures, can often seem like exciting places for children and, whilst we want them to be interested in the development, we also need to make sure that they understand that they can be dangerous places and are not somewhere to explore or play.

Weogoran Park is less than a mile from Nunnery Wood Primary School which is why it’s so important for us to be able to come in and talk to the children to raise awareness of the hazards and keep them safe around site.”

Ms Higgins, headteacher at Nunnery Wood Primary School, said: “Many of our pupils live on or near new housing developments, some of which are still partly under construction, so it was a really useful exercise for us to have St. Modwen Homes come in and teach the children about the associated dangers.”