Primary school kids try bricklaying with Barratt

Pupils at Western House Primary School in Cippenham were given a fun and educational introduction into the building trade last week.

A team from Barratt Southern Counties demonstrated a variety of building operations and skills on the school’s visit to Barratt’s Eton Green development in Cippenham, Berkshire, where an impressive collection of two, three, four and five-bedroom homes are currently under construction. The Year 2 children were even able to try their hand at bricklaying.

The idea of the trip was to show the 60 children, aged between six and seven, how houses are built, what materials are used, and the need for a safe working environment. After an introduction, including a safety talk, the children were kitted out with hi-vis jackets and safety helmets. They were then taken on a guided tour around the building site. There was the opportunity to see homes at various stages of construction and watch how a fork-lift truck and a digger work.

The finale was a bricklaying demonstration, after which the children donned protective gloves and were given the chance to try the art of bricklaying themselves.

“The school trip was a great success and great fun was had by all,” said Helen Walter, Head of Year 2 at Western House Primary School. “The visit has taught the children the necessity of building site safety, which is particularly important as a number of our pupils already live on the Eton Green development with their families.”

All the pupils who visited the development have also been given the chance to enter a Design a Flag Competition. Children were invited to look for things to draw, using the development as inspiration. The winning child will have their design made into a real flag at Eton Green and win a £50 voucher for a store of their choice.

“By holding events like this we hope to build on our relationship with the local community and help Eton Green integrate with Cippenham and the wider Slough area,” says Lynnette St Quintin, sales director of Barratt Southern Counties. “The children had a great day learning how a building site evolves into a neighbourhood and we hope that lots more of our customers will send their children to Western House Primary School, which is within easy walking distance of the development.”

Eton Green will eventually comprise a sustainable community of 300 homes. With both private and affordable homes, in 13 different styles, there will be something to suit everybody, from first time home buyers to downsizers. Eton Green is particularly suited to young families, because it features extensive on-site recreation and sports facilities. New state-of-the-art primary and secondary schools are under construction nearby.

The development also enjoys a fantastic location. Cippenham lies close to the beautiful natural woodland of Burnham Beeches, which provides stunning walks and unrivalled scenery. There are over 50 parks and green areas, providing a range of sports fields, woods and wildlife, in the locality. Nearby attractions include Ascot racecourse, Windsor Castle and Legoland. Slough also offers a good shopping centre.

From Uxbridge, the nearest tube station, it takes less than an hour to get to London Bridge. Nearby Slough Station has a service that takes a little over an hour to get to London Waterloo by train. Cippenham is located off Junction 7 of the M4, providing an easy commute to Maidenhead and Windsor, with Heathrow airport just as accessible and a mere 20 minutes by car.

Barratt is offering a selection of new homes at Eton Green for customers under a new Government scheme ‘HomeBuy Direct’ that gives homebuyers the chance to buy a new home for only 70 per cent of the purchase price. The housebuilder is matching the Government’s funding pound for pound in the new venture to provide the 30 per cent equity loan to the homebuyer. The buyer finances the remaining 70 per cent either through a mortgage, a deposit or a combination of the two. Pre-registration was launched just four weeks ago and more than 220 prospective home buyers have already signed up for this new scheme; Barratt is backing the initiative with a total of 3,000 homes nationwide.

At Eton Green, Richards Way, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 5EU, prices start from £210,995 for a two bedroom house. For further information visit barratthomes.co.uk.