SCHOOL children have been getting their tools ready to see what life is like on a building site.

Years 5 and 6 classes at Gwersyllt Community Primary School have been learning hands-on construction skills with the help from two local companies, as they set out on the task of building their own planters.

Teacher Greg McAteer said: “We have always been a school whom feel passionately about holistic education and are firm believers in the idea that education doesn't take place purely in the classrooms.

“With that ideal, we have made a point of getting children involved in many STEM activities over the years and are now beginning to look at trade skills with children.

“The skills that children learn in school are needed. Reading, writing, numeracy and ICT are all hugely important. However, children rarely get a chance to also experience real, hands-on skills, as feature on building sites and in people's daily lives up and down the country every day.

“With our topic this term being 'Construction' we took on the task of getting the children to build brick planters on the school field.”

The children began planning their planters, producing three-dimensional plans in small teams and having calculated the number of bricks and volumes of sand and cement they would require, the children wrote to a few local companies asking if they could donate anything to the project.

Mr McAteer added: “Quite remarkably, two local companies, Travis Perkins and S.G Estates, told us that they would love to get involved. Travis Perkins donated huge amounts of treated timber, cement, sand, tools, buckets and around 550 bricks and S.G Estates donated £500 to help with anything else we needed.

“Work began as soon as we knew we had the materials necessary for the project.

“Classes went to the field in bubbles and began digging footings for the planters which were then concreted and left overnight.

“The next few days, when we weren't getting caught in downpours, saw the children mixing mortar, using trowels and gauges to lay bricks and levelling everything with spirit levels. The next couple of days involved the children pointing up their work.

“They, in all reality, look like planters made by 10-11 year olds with no building experience. We didn't want planters though. We wanted to give a group of children the chance to hold bricks, mix mortar, use tools, and experience what life might be like one day on a building site. And that's exactly what we did.”