Pupils from Herne Bay Junior School swapped the classroom for the construction site in a special visit to Rosewood hosted by sustainable homebuilders, Stonebond and Orbit Homes.

The event highlighted the importance of site safety through an interactive presentation with construction colleagues, a guided tour of the site, and a series of hands‑on activities including pupils building a 3D model house.

Herne Bay Junior School pupils, aged from 7 to 11, were encouraged to learn from industry experts and spark their curiosity during the visit, with students given a real sense of the different stages involved in building a new home and how a development comes together. The event aligned with Orbit Homes' free 'Building Buddies' educational programme.

After the children put their new construction knowledge to the test with the 3D model house activity, Stonebond and Orbit Homes gifted the pupils goodie bags featuring fun keepsakes for them to remember the day by.

Stonebond and Orbit Homes are working in partnership to deliver a total of 178 new homes at the development located off Bullockstone Road in Herne Bay. Homes are offered across a range of tenures, including 100 affordable homes from Orbit Homes for Shared Ownership, affordable rent and Rent to Buy. Stonebond will also be delivering a new phase of market sale homes later this year.

Nick Foreman, Site Operations Manager at Herne Bay Junior School comments: “During our visit, the children learned valuable lessons about health and safety and how new homes are built, embracing the chance to look at the construction process with fresh eyes and to think carefully about the steps taken to ensure Herne Bay's new homes are built safely and securely. We are always looking for ways to inspire our pupils' bright young minds, so we jumped at the chance to connect with Stonebond and Orbit Homes for this memorable visit to Rosewood.”

Leanne Mackenzie, Head of Sales & Marketing at Stonebond, said: “We were so pleased to welcome pupils and teachers from Herne Bay Junior School to Rosewood, and to show them the expertise and precise safety measures that go into creating high‑quality homes in a fun and interactive way. Supporting the communities where we build is incredibly important to us, and helping to inspire the next generation to consider a future in housebuilding is a key part of that commitment.”

Ray Winney, National Build Director at Orbit Homes, said: “We were delighted to work alongside our partners Stonebond to arrange a special visit for the pupils of Herne Bay Junior School as part of our 'Building Buddies' programme. Rosewood is delivering much needed affordable housing for the local area, and this was a unique opportunity for the pupils to see a busy construction site in action. It was amazing to see the children try some fun activities that showed just how exciting the range of careers available in housebuilding can be.”

Situated in the coastal town of Herne Bay in Kent, Rosewood comprises a selection of mixed-tenure two-bedroom apartments and two, three and four‑bedroom houses. Designed with light‑filled interiors, spacious living areas and modern finishes, these homes provide a comfortable, contemporary living experience, with open‑plan layouts ideal for relaxing or entertaining.

For further information on the homes available at Rosewood, please visit https://www.stonebondproperties.com and www.orbithomes.org.uk/orbit-homes-at-rosewood  

Building Buddies also offers free classroom resources, including Maths and English activities linked to day-to-day construction jobs, which are available at www.orbithomes.org.uk/about-orbit/building-buddies. To book a Building Buddies visit or for more information, contact: building.buddies@orbit.org.uk.

-ENDS-

For further press information, contact Freya Martyniak at The Oracle Group on:

freya@theoraclegroup.co.uk

About Stonebond

Stonebond is a premium partnerships developer, focused on the delivery of high quality, mixed-tenure developments across the UK.

Our business was established over 50 years ago and is privately owned by the Cherry family, who were the founders of Countryside Properties.

Headquartered in Essex, we have regional operations in Guildford, St Albans, Sevenoaks, Birmingham and Manchester.

We work in partnership with Registered Providers, local authorities, PRS Investors and Homes England.

We create new mixed-tenure communities in collaboration with our partners, who share our aspirations to help solve the UK's housing crisis.

We focus on promoting local skills and labour, supporting growth of responsible regional businesses, creating healthier, safer and more resilient communities and protecting and improving our environment.

Our work is award-winning: we were named Developer of the Year by Premier Guarantee, a leading provider of structural warranties, in 2024 and regained this title again in 2025, and also won the Social Housing Development of the Year award in 2024 and 2025.

About Orbit Homes

Part of one of the UK's foremost housing groups, Orbit, Orbit Homes is one of the largest builders of affordable homes in the UK, delivering around 1,000 new build homes per year for shared ownership, social rent, affordable rent and market sale. Orbit Homes is committed to building and regenerating 7,000 homes by 2030.

Our developments range from small schemes in rural villages, through to large urban regeneration projects, making them suitable for first time buyers, those seeking to trade down or for families looking for more space. By offering a choice of either market sale or shared ownership, we aim to make home ownership more achievable. We also build new homes for rent via Orbit Group.

Our energy efficient, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) 'safer by design' approved homes are tenure blind, meaning that whether a customer moves into their new Orbit home via market sale, shared ownership, or social rent, they receive the same commitment to sector leading design, specification, and safety, coupled with outstanding customer service.

We are proud to have been awarded the 5* Housebuilder accolade by the HBF, as well as the Gold Customer Satisfaction Award from In-house Research for nine consecutive years. These independent awards are based on feedback gathered from customers after they have moved into their new home and over 95% of our customers surveyed in the last year would recommend Orbit Homes to a friend.

We have a strategic partnership with Homes England and share Orbit Group's socially driven, commercially minded ethos, working with social enterprises to derive even greater benefit from our investment and reinvesting our profits to improve the quality of our homes, our services, and our communities.