Junior Life Skills Success
Year 6 students from 25 of the Borough’s primary schools attended the Junior Life Skills event last week at Parklands Leisure Centre in Okehampton and the Town Hall in Tavistock.
Junior Life Skills is a scheme, funded by West Devon Borough Council, which has run annually for over 20 years and is aimed at school children aged 10 – 11 years.
The scheme is an important milestone in students taking more independence before they move up to secondary education and challenges children in ‘real-life’ scenarios which teach essential safety lessons and helps to prevent issues from developing. This gives the students the opportunity to learn crucial life skills.
A total of 535 children engaged in small groups with a range of agencies such as the Police, RNLI, BT, Western Power, Dartmoor Rangers, the Dogs Trust, the Royal Life Saving Society, with First Aid and West Devon Borough Council.
During their visit, the children gained an understanding of personal safety and community responsibility, as well as an awareness of health and safety issues.
The program contains interactive learning experiences where children discuss hazards in a wide range of different situations from fully trained volunteers and learn the most appropriate actions to take and how to develop social responsibility.
In each scenario, children faced a danger they could encounter at any time. They covered issues such as safety on the moors and around water, telephone awareness, using virtual reality to learn about keeping safe around electricity, and watched a powerful video on internet safety which helps to reduces exploitation through online grooming.
The scenarios from West Devon Borough Council encouraged the children to think about waste and recycling, as well as food safety and the importance of hand hygiene.
Cllr Tony Leech, Mayor and Lead Member for Wellbeing at West Devon Borough Council, said: “The annual event of Junior Life Skills is something that we should all be proud to be part of. I have tried to attend most of the events in Okehampton over the years and when they were held at the local Army Camp, they had a special feel about them, but wherever the event is held, the children who attend come away with a lasting knowledge of situations that may not be taught anywhere else, so we need to make sure that this event continues for future generations.”
Emma Byrom, Head of School at Princetown Community Primary School, said: “I think it’s really important that children come to these events. There are such a variety of things here and the children have learnt so much. They’ve found out how and when to ring 999. A lot of children didn’t know they could ring 999 for Mountain Rescue, which is really important for our school since we’re based on Dartmoor.
“As they’re growing up, children need to learn how to look after themselves and each other and that’s really vital.”
There was also an international feel to this year’s event with 13 visiting Japanese students from Mount Kelly attending one of the sessions.
Cllr Robin Musgrave, West Devon Borough Council’s Community Safety Partnership representative, said: “I attended both days in Tavistock and was really bowled over by the various activities and safety sessions that were being covered - ranging from water safety with the RNLI to safe use of the Internet.
“The event was only possible with the support of an army of volunteers and co-operation of the relevant bodies. Lots of primary school pupils participated in the event, including one group of pupils from Hong Kong who were visiting the area.”
Thanks go to Fusion for free use of the hall at Parklands leisure centre and also to all of the partner agencies who contributed their time and resources during this event.
If you would like to get involved with next year’s Junior Life Skills, contact Louisa Daley at louisa.daley@swdevon.gov.uk or Dotty King on juniorlifeskills@outlook.com