Pupils at Clepington Primary School enjoyed a visit to a local Dundee development to learn more about the area and connect with the nation’s favourite furry friend, Paddington Bear.
In conjunction with the launch of the Paddington in Peru film release in November, pupils from primary 1 were given a tour of Barratt Homes Scotland’s Keiller’s Rise development where they learned about the history of the site – land which was once the grounds of the Keiller Marmalade production plant.
Each class was on hand to help Paddington find his lost items during a teddy bear hunt. In groups, pupils decorated Paddington’s hard hat to help keep him safe on site after watching construction workers use their diggers and prepare the land for the new homes. The children also taste-tested marmalade sandwiches – Paddington’s favourite snack – at a teddy bear’s picnic, paying homage to the nation’s favourite bear and the jam once made on the historic site. A Paddington mascot was also brought back to the school for all the fantastic teamwork on the day.
Pupils also brought along their old teddy bears they no longer play with, which have been donated to Dundee Pregnancy and Parenthood Support to get a new home and lease of life. Barratt Homes North Scotland matched the donation by supplying second-hand reading books to the library at Clepington Primary.
With Keiller’s Jam once a leading manufacturer of jam and having an influential role in popularising marmalade, the visit to the site proved popular among pupils, offering the perfect way to connect with Paddington ahead of the new film release with some fun activities around the Keiller’s Rise site and 4 bedroom Glamis show home to learn more about the history of their hometown.
David Palmer, Managing Director of Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Scotland, said: “We were delighted to have welcomed pupils from Clepington Primary onto our Keiller’s Rise development to learn about the history of the site.
“Supporting the local community to engage the younger generation with our industry and honouring the areas we build homes in is something we pride ourselves on at Barratt so we are pleased that the pupils could learn a bit more about the history of the iconic James Keiller brand where the site was once home to and also give back to local charities doing some amazing work in Dundee.”
Mrs Squire, P1 teacher at Clepington Primary School, said: “The Clepington children had lots of fun visiting the new home site. It is great for them to be able to get out and about and explore their local community.
“They were particularly excited to take their favourite teddies along with them and loved having a good look around the show home!”
The factory site, which was left derelict in the mid-1990s, has seen Barratt Homes transform the brownfield land into 223 units of high-quality homes and apartments to bring life back into the site and help meet the demand for new homes in the area.
