Children at an East Renfrewshire school have been given top marks for effort after taking part in a fun event which helped them get closer to nature.

Leading housebuilder Taylor Wimpey invited pupils from Maidenhill Primary to visit a ‘bug hotel’ installed at its nearby development to encourage more wildlife into private gardens.

The youngsters were then set a task of designing and creating their own bug hotels as part of a sustainability challenge.

Barrhead News:

They also completed a range of lessons about creepy-crawlies, including field trips across the Maidenhill development to discover what types of creatures live on their doorstep.

Maya Calvert, Taylor Wimpey’s local sustainability champion, chose her favourite four designs during a visit to the school, in Newton Mearns, as well as presenting the winners – Murray, Charlotte, Oliver and Gurleen – with book tokens.

Barrhead News:

As part of the project, every child in primary four also received a copy of Taylor Wimpey’s Ecotastic Activity book, which is designed to help youngsters find out fun facts about the environment, while also discovering some interesting methods the developer uses to make its new homes more environmentally friendly.

Maya is full of praise for all those who took part.

She told the Barrhead News: “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to work with local communities near our developments, so we were delighted when the primary four classes at Maidenhill Primary agreed to take part in our bug hotel design competition.”

Class teacher Lewis Milligan said the project was full of fun learning opportunities for pupils ahead of their summer break.

He added: “Having the chance to visit the bug hotel at Taylor Wimpey’s development near the school was a great way to spark the children’s imagination.

“We had lots of fun finding bugs, recording bugs and discovering just how much wildlife we have right here in Maidenhill that we need to look after.”

Fellow teacher Kirsten Waddell added: “We were very pleased to be asked to take part in Taylor Wimpey West Scotland’s bug hotel design project.

“The children had great fun coming up with the designs for and creating their bug hotels, which many have now taken home to install in their own gardens.”