A series of fun and interactive activities led by emergency services and local authorities has helped educate pupils on everything from wildlife crime to CPR.
Newark and Sherwood District Council hosted a week-long safety event at Sconce and Devon Park, Newark, in partnership with Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, Newark Community First Aid, and interchanging stalls by the RNLI, Via East Midlands and Sherwood Forest.
The event ran from June 10 to June 14, with another taking place on the other side of the district at Vicar Water Country Park this week.
The two events aimed to ensure that despite the vast size of the district and the number of schools, all would be able to access the safety information and education in a fun and engaging way.
Each day year six pupils from schools across the district got stuck in to a range of activities a each organisation’s station in the park.
Nottinghamshire Police officers were on hand with a short play where pupils were cast in a variety of roles including teenagers, elderly walkers and neighbourhood police officers.
They acted out a scenario involving littering and animals being targeted with catapults at Balderton Lake, before considering what actions were illegal from a range of questions.
PC Lydia Day said: “We are focussed on wildlife crime and anti-social behaviour and doing a play with the pupils about this.
“We’ve got a focus on catapulting wildlife — something which has been a bit of an issue for us in the area. The importance of this is that they learn the impact on the animals, on the community, and the laws about how they should respond to the police.
“It’s gone really well, they’ve been getting really into it.”
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service had two stations set up, educating on both fire and water safety.
Their mobile ‘risky room’ was kit out with a bedroom and kitchen filled with fire hazards — including a charging e-scooter, candles, damaged cables, heaters and cigarettes — which the young participants were challenged to identify and then learn about how each could cause a fire.
The water safety side of things saw the pupils testing their aim throwing ropes across the grass towards a life ring, as the service would do for someone in the water who needed assistance.
Michelle Broll, district prevent officer for the service, said: “It is a way of us reaching a big age group with fire and water safety, that we aren’t able to reach through other forms.
“We have given practical demonstrations to around 900 children, and it enables us to do the relevant fire safety necessary for them, like phones and electric scooters charging — generational things.”
Newark and Sherwood District Council also ran a series of activities around it’s motion for the ocean pledge, exploring recycling, the effect of waste on waterways and the sea, and how long different items take to break down.
A trail saw the children working in teams to explore how their items would degrade by searching for activity cards in a woodland area of the park.
Pupil Alfie-Joe Dale, of Kings Church of England Primary Academy, said: “We’ve been learning about what goes in general waste and what goes into recycling, and how to stop it going into our oceans.
“We also learned how long things take to dissolve.”
Elsewhere, Newark Community First Aid taught the pupils the steps to take if someone is unconscious and needs CPR using practice dummies, and the RNLI shared more information about water safety, their work and the dangers of even shallow water.
Jenny Walker, the council’s business manager for public protection, added: “Over the two weeks the number of schools we will have reached to give vital safety information is invaluable.
“We want to thank our partners for their time and resources. The pupils have had a great day and will hopefully take away valuable life lessons which they will also share with their families.”
