Whiteburn’s Allanbank team challenges school children to design a sustainable development

The team then spent an afternoon working with the Primary 7-year group challenging them to design and produce a model layout of a sustainable housing development and create a bid to buy land.

As part of the project, the children were reminded of the importance of their STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and how important that each one is in creating sustainable developments.

Bringing the children’s learning to life and creating an engaging STEM activity was a great opportunity for the team as Eve McCurrich, managing director for Whiteburn, explained:  “We are mindful that we want our proposed Allanbank development to provide a positive contribution to the local community of Lauder. The children were really engaged, and we were impressed with their level of knowledge and the questions they asked about our Allanbank proposals.

“Where we can, we want to help support and be part of the local community and working with the children at Lauder Primary allows us to do just that. Additionally, by promoting the importance of STEM subjects, showing how they are essential within our industry and the variety of jobs and careers available.

“I hope that we have helped to inspire the next generation and contributed towards futureproofing the industry – certainly the level of thought and creativity shown by the groups in their design and detail showed they have the talent.”

Mrs Archbold, the P7 Teacher at Lauder Primary School added: “We were delighted to welcome the team from Whiteburn to our school. They have provided us information on their development proposals for the children to study as a real-life project.

“The practical STEM sessions were a real hit with the Primary 7 children who had the opportunity to apply the STEM skills that they have developed over the years, and it helped to consolidate their learning in a fun and interesting way.”