Kettering primary school pupils tool up on how to stay safe and choose well

Kettering Junior Citizens brought together local agencies – Northants Fire and Rescue, Healthy Schools and the police PCSO team, who joined Hope UK drug educators to work with Year 6 pupils from local schools.

During the two-day event, pupils spent a morning or afternoon visiting each agency in small groups to take part in activities designed to share important messages about how to keep themselves safe.

The half-day programme delivered a carousel of activities made up of 15-minute sessions on topics relating to good citizenship. The topics covered were drug awareness, peer pressure and how to develop peer resistance skills, grooming and exploitation, awareness of sugar content in foods, fire safety in the home, water safety when out and about, and online safety. Scenarios presented to the children enabled them to learn from real-life situations and tested their ability to make responsible decisions.

Pupils from Hawthorn Primary were keen to share what they had learned by the end of the afternoon. 11-year-old Dawood said he had a much better awareness of some of the drugs young people might come across as they got older.

“I didn’t know aerosol canisters could be used as a drug. And also, I’ve seen those silver canisters before, but I didn’t know what they were and now I know it’s laughing gas,” he said.

Rowan was equally enthused: “I liked all the sessions. The biggest highlight was the drug talk – I didn’t know laughing gas could be dangerous. I thought it was only doctors who used it.”

Pupils especially enjoyed the interactive tasks – such as practising peer resistance skills if they found themselves in a tricky situation. For Henry and Eva the session on peer pressure stood out. “I liked how they made it fun and got us to think for ourselves about what’s good and what’s bad for us,” said Henry. Eva agreed: “They made it fun and turned learning about peer pressure into a game.”

A highlight for Will was the session on healthy eating and the importance of understanding how much sugar we consume every day. “We placed different foods on a low to high chart by working out how much sugar they had in them. It was really good that we could see and handle the props and objects ourselves.”

Teacher, Jane Tinto said this was the second year their school had attended the Kettering Junior Citizens. “It is very helpful to build on the curriculum we do at school. All the workshops were informative and interactive for the children. It’s all about getting them to be safe in the real world.”

Hope UK's event was supported by the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, Amy Crawfurd, whose 12-month tenure has a special focus on the wellbeing of young people, and by the Mayor of Kettering.

After observing all the sessions in action, the High Sheriff commented: “A wonderfully informative and interactive afternoon, covering many aspects of personal safety for pupils about to transition up to secondary school.”

Kettering Mayor, Councillor Craig Skinner added: “The children responded really well. Shouting out key messages at the end of the afternoon helps the learning stick. This is a key time for children as they prepare to go to secondary school and it’s a brilliant way of highlighting what’s out there and what they need to be aware of. It would be great to get more schools involved next year.”