17th June 2010
Fire services urged to participate in this year’s Schools’ Fire Safety Week.
To help raise awareness of the dangers of fire and educate children about fire safety, The Fire Fighters Charity and the Communities and Local Government Fire Kills Campaign are continuing their quest to encourage primary schools to work with their local Fire and Rescue Service during this year’s National Schools’ Fire Safety Week (4th-8th October 2010).
Between 2007 and 2008, 16 children under the age of 11 were killed in fires in the UK, and a further 1,300 were injured in house fires. Fire statistics also show that over 35,000 fires in 2008 were started by children under the age of 18, almost half of which were caused by matches, lighters or lighted candles.
The Fire Fighters Charity and the Communities and Local Government Fire Kills Campaign have therefore created this annual, high profile awareness week, to provide anyone who looks after children, with the tools they need to educate those in their care about fire safety and help drive these numbers down. This year the topic is Matches & Lighters: Tools not Toys and is being supported by CFOA. The objective of the campaign is to teach children the key messages relating to the dangers of matches and lighters that are easy to remember and can be passed on to friends and siblings, consecutively helping to prevent fires.
The campaign is primarily aimed at Key Stage 1 children (5-7 year olds) and all teachers/parents or carers wishing to participate in the event can request a free teachers’ resource pack which will include daily classroom activity worksheets, an event poster, homework sheet and guidance notes. Should Fire & Rescue Service HQs or Watch Managers wish to receive a specific numbers of packs to support their activity, they can email firesafety@firefighterscharity.org.uk.
The campaign is accompanied by a fun and educational microsite lead by fictional character Neenaw The Fire Engine, and includes individually designed zones for both adults and children. Additional teachers’ resources, games, quizzes and advice for parents and carers can also be found on this dedicated website.
To help further promote the event in schools, The Fire Fighters Charity is launching a national competition, in which children are asked to complete the first line of a poem, presenting their work in a creative format!
To support the day’s activities, it is recommended that teachers contact their Community Fire Safety team at their local Fire and Rescue Service who will be aware of the campaign. For more information email firesafety@firefighterscharity.org.uk.
The website www.nationalschoolsfiresafetyweek.com will be up and running by the end of June 2010.
Date: 9th September 2010
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