Leading Oxfordshire developer David Wilson Homes has crowned the first two winners of its specially designed award programme at a school in Abingdon. The developer’s Building Buddies Award aims to get children interested in the industry and raise awareness of the variety of roles available in construction.
The award scheme is currently being hosted at Dunmore Primary School, located close to the housebuilder’s Kings Gate and Abbey Fields developments. The scheme is comprised of four tasks which take place throughout the academic year, and teach young children about planning and land, sales and marketing, technical and design, and site safety respectively.
The developer recently selected the winners of the first two tasks, with each winner securing a £25 voucher for their excellent projects. For task one, the pupils each created their own fictitious housing development by coming up with a name and designing a logo for it.
Teagan Cole was named the winner by the developer. The winner of task two was Chengqi Zhang, who amongst the other pupils completed a writing task which focused on marketing the unique selling points of their invented developments.
Sam Bartholomew, Headteacher at Dunmore Primary School, said: "The children have really enjoyed taking part in the Building Buddies project. I have been impressed with their brilliant ideas for eco-friendly houses, complete with wildlife gardens.
“The scheme has given them the unique opportunity to have a little insight into the process of the design and creation of new building developments, sparking their curiosity and leading to lots of discussion.” The school will receive a coveted Building Buddies Award at the end of the scheme, and the four award winners will also receive trophies to celebrate their efforts.
Campbell Gregg, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes Southern, said: “We are thrilled to be running this creative award scheme with the pupils at Dunmore Primary School. The four tasks are designed to bring schoolchildren’s imaginations to life, practise their writing and design skills, and learn all about the industry along the way.
“Encouraging young children to learn about construction is extremely important to us, as we always aim to inspire the next generation of builders and tradespeople. We’ve loved all the entries we’ve received so far from the talented children, and we are very much looking forward to hosting the ceremony and announcing the winners of the final tasks.”
David Wilson Homes’ Kings Gate is a new development of one to five bedroom homes, based off Wootton Road. Located off Dunmore Road, Abbey Fields consists of three, four and five bedroom homes.
