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More than a dozen schoolchildren and their teachers from three of Ashford’s primary school last week enjoyed an educational visit to the site of Windsor Court, a new collection of apartments in Singleton, Ashford, which is currently under construction.
As part of the countdown to Construction Week, a national statutory body-led initiative designed to raise awareness of the severe shortage of construction personnel in the UK and encourage young people to learn key skills, the visit provided the opportunity for the children to learn more about the housebuilding process for themselves.
The visit was organised by the Construction Industry Training Board - Construction Skills (CITB-ConstructionSkills), the body which promotes training and careers in the sector, along with the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and Great Homes Limited, the award-winning company behind the new Singleton development. Together they worked with head teachers from the participating schools to ensure the visit was within the National Curriculum and an integral part of the children’s learning.
The children, from Ashford’s Hothfield Village Primary School, John Mayne C.E. Primary and Mersham Primary, were given a talk about Windsor Court, followed by a briefing about safety on site and a tour which aimed to teach them about how new homes are constructed and what skills are required.
Having made the visit, the children are now required to prepare a project about their findings over the next few weeks, and, under the guidance of their teachers, make a presentation to their fellow pupils.
The CITB-ConstructionSkills will assess each project and a panel of judges will award £500 to the winning school based on how innovatively the information learnt on the visit by pupils is presented. Construction Week runs from October 6 to 13, and it will culminate in an award ceremony for the best projects to be held at the Corn Exchange in Rochester on the final day. More then 50 schools throughout Kent are participating in the initiative.
David Sparks, managing director of Great Homes Limited, will be one of the judges. He says, “The UK is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of skilled construction workers, which is a major concern in the housebuilding industry. We are therefore delighted to work with the CITB and the DTI in helping to raise awareness of the problem, and encourage young people to learn these skills for the future.”
The housebuilding industry needs to recruit at least 76,000 skilled personnel every year in order to continue providing the number of homes to meet consumer demand. In fact, Britain is heading towards a property shortage of more than a million homes by 2022* unless the current rate of house building is dramatically increased.
The CITB and DTI believe that the only way to attract skilled workers is to forge early links with schools. Working within the National Curriculum, they believe that schoolchildren’s positive experience of the construction industry will raise its profile, and is actively encouraging visits such as the one to Windsor Court.
"The challenge is a fantastic opportunity for young people to undertake a curriculum project which will help them to gain an understanding of construction and the built environment,” says Yvette Iveson, CITB’s Education Business Co-ordinator. “The support provided by Great Homes Limited in hosting the site visit has been invaluable as it has enabled the children to witness the construction process first hand with which to enhance their project when they return to school."
Great Homes Limited began work on Windsor Court earlier this year and is set to open its show apartments and on-site sales centre on October 21. The collection of 46 apartments designed for buyers of 55 years and over will offer one and two bedroom homes in a secure environment.
For instance, a CCTV entryphone system will be fitted to ensure that visitors to the building are monitored before they are allowed entry, while the mature residents can live an independent lifestyle safe in the knowledge that a duty manager plus a 24-hour support and careline facility is in place for emergencies.
Windsor Court will feature a residents’ lounge, conservatory and landscaped gardens complete with its own reed pond, while each apartment will come complete with an elegant bathroom, carpet and floor coverings, and a fully fitted kitchen – a double oven, hob with an extractor fan above, a fridge/freezer and even a washer/dryer are standard.
For further information on Windsor Court contact Great Homes Limited on 01375 484420, or visit its website www.greathomesltd.co.uk. For information on Construction Week and the work of CITB-Construction Skills visit www.ncw.org.uk.
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