The Safety Centre – Hazard Alley

As part of our PSHEE/Wellbeing and Citizenship learning in school the children are encouraged to use Protective Behaviours in order to keep themselves and others safe. The Safety Centre team at Hazard Alley play an important role in our children’s learning experience here.

In year’s 2 and 5 our children visit Hazard Alley Safety Centre which is a ‘purpose built’ interactive education centre. On their visits the children experience twelve hazardous scenarios in perfect safety, such as fire safety, road safety, first aid and the recovery position and crime and the consequences. They are encouraged to identify everyday hazards and develop safe strategies to deal with potential emergencies, changing their behaviour to keep themselves and others safe.

The Safety Centre team come into school to do follow-up lessons for year groups that visit the Centre and also with other groups to reinforce teaching and learning about keeping safe and how to deal with various situations. These sessions directly reinforce the messages given at the Centre and also encourage community safety and citizenship. All the experiences and teaching are designed to encourage the children to change their behaviour towards taking responsibility.

In years 5 and 6 the children take part in an On-Line Evaluation Programme in the form of computer-based quizzes that assess the children’s safety knowledge and skills and reinforce the safety messages taught at the Centre and in school lessons. Our children have found this exciting, challenging and beneficial in their learning.

The on-line quizzes take place before the children’s visit, shortly after their visit and again after a 6-month interval and all have been keen to improve their knowledge and understanding.

The Protective Behaviours strategies taught both at the Safety Centre and in school are used to emphasise the fact that behaviour is a choice with an effect.

If you would like to know more about Hazard Alley Safety Centre, please go to http://www.safetycentre.co.uk/

To see information and pictures of one of our visits to Hazard Alley Safety Centre, please click here.