ALICE WINS ESB AWARD FOR SAFETY POSTER
ARTISTIC ALICE WON AWARD WITH HER ESB SAFETY POSTER
A Dundalk girl won a major award at the ESB Networks national ‘Stay Safe, Stay Clear’ primary schools competition.
Alice O’Shaughnessy from Scoil Mhuire na nGael Dundalk was announced as the Junior National winner with the poster she designed as part of the electrical safety awareness campaign.
Alice’s entry was a favourite among the judges out of the large number of entries to the safety initiative for primary schools for the 2016/17 school year.
She was praised by school principal Martina Rafferty for her unique take on the awareness raising initiative.
The safety campaign is part of ESB Networks’ sponsorship of the Road Safety Authority high visibility jacket campaign for all Junior Schools.
The campaign, titled ‘Stay Safe, Stay Clear’ was aimed at of educating primary school children about how to stay safe when they are playing outdoors near electricity poles and overhead wires.
The campaign is was particularly important during the winter months, when visibility may be a problem for children outdoors.
One of the fun and interesting ways to highlight the need for vigilance is an initiative which includes online lesson plans for the Junior School science curriculum along with, an interactive game and the poster competition which Bay Estate pupil Alice O’Shaugnessy was so successful in.
The awareness campaign highlighted six key safety tips for children, which includes the warnings to: Never climb trees near overhead lines, never fly a kite near overhead wires, never fish near overhead wires, never approach a fallen wire, tell an adult first, never climb a pylon and always stay away from places marked with a danger sign.
Arthur Byrne ,Safety Manager, ESB Networks said; ‘A huge congratulations to the winners and to everyone who took part in this competition.
We are delighted that there were so many excellent and inspiring entries.
The competition entries showed how aware and engaged the pupils became with the importance of electrical safety, when taking part in the Stay Safe, Stay Clear programme.
We believe that encouraging young people to engage with safety is an im- portant part of their education and we are happy to support that.’
The overall winner receives a prize of €1,000 for their school and the regional winners receive a prize of €250 for their school.A
Alice’s poster and all of the winning entries will be showcased in a Stay Safe, Stay Clear, 2017 calendar which will be sent to every primary school in the country.
The ‘Stay Safe, Stay Clear’ programme was sent out to 3,500 primary schools across the country, including all of thoes in Louth.
For anyone interested in educating children about the dangers, the lesson plans relating to electrical safety, and the new online game ‘ Stay Safe, Stay Clear’ and the ‘Stay Safe, Stay Clear - six safety tips’ are available on www.esbnetworks. ie/education