Staff and pupils from South Otterington C of E Primary School are celebrating the publication of a book written by the children about their visit to a local building site.
Inspiration for the book came in May last year, when a group of Year 3 and 4 pupils visited the Saints Green at Peggyβs Field development in the village, where national partnership housing specialist Lovell is building 42 new homes.
During the visit, the children went on a guided tour of the site, were given a talk on health and safety, and got to try their hand at bricklaying. Afterwards, they were tasked with creating a fictional storybook based on their experience at the development, with older pupils writing the words and younger ones creating the illustrations.
Naomi Lanham, Year 3 and 4 class teacher at the school, said:
The children absolutely loved their trip to the site β it was practical and hands-on and they had a fantastic time. Putting together the book was the perfect way to remember the visit.
βThe initial visit tied into our geography lessons, demonstrating how local land can be used for new housing. We then learnt about story structure in English lessons, and used that to put the narrative together. The students had to include some action, some humour, and include a problem that had to be solved. It all came together to make a brilliant, informative story, and the children loved every minute of the process.
Once the book β which is called A Trip To Lovell - was complete, the school sent a scanned copy to Lovell, who arranged for it to be published. And this month, pupils returned to Saints Green to celebrate the opening of the mini library β called Lovell Little Library - at the development, where a copy of the book will be kept for residents to borrow.
Rebecca Darby, Head of Sales for Lovell in the North East, said:
We welcomed South Otterington C of E Primary School to site over a year ago, and theyβve worked so hard to bring that visit to life in their brilliant book. Weβre opening the Lovell Little Library on site for residents to swap and share reading materials, and it seems fitting that one of the first books on the shelf is inspired by the development itself.
βAt Lovell we pride ourselves on building meaningful relationships with the local community, and itβs been great to work with the school over the past year. We hope the children found the process of creating the book an enriching one. It would be lovely to think that some may have been inspired by the experience to think about working in the industry one day.
Naomi added:
This project has been a great opportunity to translate educational skills into reality: pupils have learnt how to write a story, put that learning into practice using their experience at the development, and then seen the result of their work. They feel such pride at being authors and illustrators, and itβs wonderful to see.
βOur Head, Miss Gledhill, is retiring at the end of the school year and itβs the perfect time to see this project completed. What a keepsake to take away! Weβd like to thank Lovell for their support on this project and would love to work with them again in the future.
