Member Article

Chapelford Primary School goes back to the future

Pupils from Chapelford Village Primary School have gone ‘back to the future’ by burying a time capsule in the grounds of the school – designed to be unearthed one hundred years from now.

With the help of Warrington Mayor, Councillor Faisal Rashid, and David Wilson Homes (DWH) North West, the pupils were invited to give students of the future an idea of what life was like in 2016.

The contents of the time capsule included examples of current curriculum work, a school reading book, items of school uniform and a journal created by the children which documents their everyday lives. Last but not least was a copy of the Warrington Guardian – which just happened to feature a story on head teacher, Joanne Hewson!

The state of the art school was built as part of the Chapelford Urban Village development on the site of the former RAF Burtonwood airbase – which during the last 14 years has also seen over 2000 homes, a supermarket, shops, a family pub/restaurant, and a large park built as well as a new bus service provided. The project will end in 2017/2018 with the completion of a dedicated village health centre and railway station.

With just a handful of homes left for sale, DWH North West, is preparing to say a fond farewell to the community in which it has been building for nearly 15 years. Chapelford Village is a unique, landmark development for the housebuilder, with the local community playing an important role in the planning of each phase.

A close relationship was also forged with Burtonwood Heritage Association, the organisation dedicated to preserving the memory of the former airbase and those who lived and worked there. Many of the road names and the park reflect the history of the site, and every Chapelford resident has been gifted a special Burtonwood Airbase photograph book.

Commenting on the time capsule burial, Cllr Rashid said: “It was a pleasure to see the pupils’ hard work and effort in collecting the artefacts for future generations to discover. The school forms an integral part of the Chapelford Village community and it’s great to see the enthusiasm with which it embraced the project.”

Head Teacher, Joanne Hewson, said: “It was a fascinating challenge for our pupils to think about what items might be of interest in 100 years. They thoroughly enjoyed the project and are very proud of the school’s place in Chapelford Village’s history.”

Andrew Taylor, DWH Planning Director said: “It has been a privilege working on the Chapelford Village site from the very beginning and we thank both the school and the Mayor for helping us to celebrate the success and magnitude of the development, which for us, is soon to come to an end.”

For more information about Chapelford Village and David Wilson Homes, please visit www.dwh.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Corey Kitchener .