Children at East Whitby Academy become Barratt Homes 'Building Buddies'

Students aged five and six from East Whitby Academy have learned about everything from naming and building a development to the marketing and wildlife considerations in an educational challenge named, Building Buddies.

From September 2023 until March 2024, the Year One class took part in different project challenges to learn all about housebuilding with the chance to be named one of Barratt homes’ top Building Buddies of the year.

The pupils undertook a challenge per term to enhance their education on the different elements of what it takes to build a new home. This included opportunities to use their imagination by designing a logo for a development in Whitby, marketing it with why people should move to their development and designing a garden to accommodate and welcome wildlife.

The final task saw pupils from East Whitby Academy pay a special visit to Barratt Homes Abbey View development, where they had the opportunity to meet the site team and receive an important safety talk. Plus, they heard all about the sustainability of the development including how Barratt Homes installs bat and bird boxes, hedgehog highways, and the new park that will be built for people in the area too.

During their visit, the children also were the first ones to try the Abbey View Easter egg hunt, which is due to launch on Saturday 23 March. They were invited to explore the Show Homes and find the egg-citing clues hidden by the Easter Bunny. Once the hunt was completed and all the clues were found, the children could spell out a special Easter phrase in exchange for a chocolate treat.

Rebecca Waterfield, class teacher at East Whitby Academy, said: “Taking part in a challenge like Building Buddies, which can be easily implemented into the curriculum, is really exciting for the children in Year One.

“Building sites are a hive of activity and we’re so pleased to be able to teach the pupils about them in such an interactive way. We’ve had great fun working with Barratt Homes in their Building Buddies challenge, and the children really enjoyed visiting Abbey View.”

Leonie Gilbertson, Sales Manager at Barratt Homes’ nearby Abbey View development, added: “We absolutely love working with school pupils near to our developments, especially when it’s teaching them what we’re working on in the areas that they live and go to school.

“Building Buddies is a really exciting challenge involving all aspects of bringing a new development to life, and we’re so pleased to have worked with East Whitby Academy as part of our work at the local Abbey View development.”

Located just over a mile from Whitby town centre, and within easy reach of the beach and surrounding amenities, the new Abbey View development offers a selection of three and four homes, designed with modern family life in mind. Current prices at Abbey View range start from £250,000 for a three-bedroom semi-detached home, and £270,000 for a four-bedroom semi-detached home.

For further information on Barratt Homes’ Abbey View development, please visit: https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/dev-001124-abbey-view/