PUPILS at a Cumbrian school have become the poster children for health and safety on building sites.

Students at Sedbergh Primary School have participated in a poster competition, organised by Broadacres Housing Association and development partner Equans, who are constructing 49 environmentally friendly homes in the vicinity of the school.

With the first homes set to be handed over in June, this new build site incorporates a diverse mix of properties, predominantly with affordable rent or shared ownership for those connected to the area.

The two companies have fostered connections with the primary school.

Representatives have offered students various social value workshops and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities.

As part of this, they invited the children to design a health and safety poster for the construction site, which attracted 28 submissions.

Following careful consideration, Olivia Ford was named the winner, and her poster will be blown up and displayed on the site.

The Westmorland Gazette: Olivia's poster will be blown up and put on display on the building siteOlivia's poster will be blown up and put on display on the building site (Image: Supplied)

Helen Fielding, Broadacres' development officer, said: "We were very impressed with the work the children had put into their posters and choosing a winner was very difficult indeed.

"It has been great working with the school as part of our new development and helping the children understand everything involved in a development of this nature.

“It’s possible some will end up living in the new homes or being inspired to pursue a career in construction and development when they are older.”

Laura Bains, social value manager at Equans, said: "All the pupils really got the brief and came back with some absolutely brilliant posters – it proved a very nice challenge to have to decide on just one overall winner!

“It’s great to see the pupils so engaged with learning about site safety and doing their bit to help educate others about staying safe around construction.

"While Equans does everything we can to keep the community surrounding our developments safe, we need the buy-in from everyone around and hopefully with Sedbergh Primary School’s pupils supporting us with our aims, we’ll maintain our high safety standards.”

The development includes a mix of two and three-bedroom houses and two-bedroom bungalows, as well as three four-bedroom homes and one-five-bedroom home.

34 out of the 49 homes built are dedicated to affordable rent and shared ownership, with Sedbergh residents and those of the surrounding communities being offered first refusal, and 15 will be offered on the open market.

Ms Fielding said: "The demand for the homes has been very high and we have been keen from the outset to ensure local people get first preference as part of our strategy to ensure rural communities like this remain sustainable for future generations."

A limited number of shared ownership and open market sale plots are still available for interested individuals who can visit www.broadacres.org.uk.

An open house event is scheduled for Saturday, June 22, and Sunday, June 23, from 10am to 5pm.