Students Have A Go At Building New Homes

Local school children have tried their hand at brick laying, carpentry and plumbing at a hands-on event at David Wilson Homes' The Chestnuts development in Syston, Leicestershire.

13 year nine students from Rawlins Academy in Quorn and Roundhill Academy in Thurmaston spent an afternoon at the new homes development meeting staff, learning about the construction industry and gaining practical, supervised experience of building walls, window joints and piping.

The aim of the visit, which was organised by the developer, was to demonstrate to the students the different skills involved in building a new home and to hopefully inspire them into considering a career in construction after leaving school.

Jackie Taylor, Head of Design Technology at Rawlins Academy, said; “This was a great opportunity for the students to have hands on experience of the sorts of trades available in the construction industry.”

The students were taught how to stay safe on site and also shown around a unique model house used by apprentices and workmen as a reference when carrying out their work, designed and built by award-winning Senior Site Manager Gary Tebbatt.

Karen Glover, Student Support Worker at The Roundhill Academy, said; “Gary and all his staff at The Chestnuts made us all feel so welcome, and the students have told us they really got a lot out of the visit.”

Darren Langton, Construction Director for David Wilson Homes East Midlands, said; “we're always on the look-out for the home builders of the future, and we wanted to give local students a glimpse of what it's like to work on a new homes development. We hope they learned a lot and will consider working in the industry once they leave school.”

Recently named a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer at the National Apprenticeship Awards, David Wilson Homes has a record of recruiting young people to the business through apprenticeships, graduate placement schemes and other initiatives.

To find out more and register interest in apprenticeships and careers with David Wilson Homes please log on to www.buildingcareerstogether.co.uk

A well-established homebuilder, David Wilson Homes prides itself on building exceptional homes in the finest locations and has recently been awarded the maximum five-star rating in a customer satisfaction survey ran by the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

The Chestnuts is located on Empingham Drive in the popular north-Leicestershire town of Syston and comprises a stunning selection of homes in a semi-rural location.

A range of three and four bedroom homes are currently available with prices starting from £219,995. For further information, please call the sales hotline on 0844 811 5544 open seven days a week from 8am to 9pm or log on towww.dwh.co.uk

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NOTES TO EDITORS

1) For further information about David Wilson Homes please contact Alice Norman or Alex Scoppie, Unsworth Sugden, on 0116 2471777 oralice@unsworthsugden.co.uk or alexs@unsworthsugden.co.uk

2) David Wilson Homes is part of Barratt Developments PLC, a FTSE 100 Company

3) Barratt Group sold 14,838 homes in the year to June 2014, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain

4) Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the fifth consecutive year in the 2014 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey

5) Site managers working for Barratt Group won 90 awards for quality workmanship in the 2014 NHBC Pride in the Job Awards. Barratt has won more Pride in the Job awards than any other housebuilder for the last ten years

6) Barratt is the only housebuilder to provide a five year warranty on the fixtures and fittings in its new build homes at the time of purchase