CHILDREN from Dewsbury Moor have been given a lesson in the importance of safety on a building site.

Three hundred pupils from Westmoor Junior School in Church Lane took part in a competition organised by local developer Wates Living Space.

The youngsters had to design and produce a Health and Safety poster following a visit from the firm’s mascot, Ivor Goodsite.

During the visit Wates taught the children about the dangers of scaffolding, heavy machinery, building materials and what to wear to stay safe.

The six best posters were then selected by Kirklees Council for display on the hoardings at Wates’ Woodland Court site in nearby School Lane.

The winners were rewarded for their efforts with book tokens presented during assembly.

Holly Loftus aged 10 was named the overall winner of the competition with the five runners up being Ella Whitehead, Huzaifa Rauf, Elise Jones, Yusuf Fronkarolia and Leon Smithson.

The school’s head teacher Miss Kim John said: "The children have really enjoyed taking part in this competition and are really excited to see their work displayed on the hoardings.

"It has allowed them to explore their creative side whilst also appreciating the huge importance of safety on a construction site.

"I’d like to thank Wates for taking the time to come and talk to us and we look forward to working with them in future."

Wates Living Space is currently building a 46-apartment extra care scheme with communal spaces in School Lane as part of its Excellent Homes for Life Housing PFI project for Kirklees Council.

This will see the construction of 466 new council homes for rent across the district over a 30-month period.

Joanne Jamieson, regional managing director of Wates Living Space, said: "It is really important to us to use our presence in Dewsbury and throughout Kirklees to create lasting benefits for members of the community and this is just one way we can do that.

"There were some fantastic designs produced . I’d like to thank all the pupils for their hard work."