Pupils using their ‘think safe brain’
How should you approach a dog you don’t know? What should you do if the car you are in hits a power pole?
Where should you stand when a truck or tractor is backing into your driveway?
About 250 pupils from Riversdale, Waikaia, Otama and Balfour schools are more safety savvy after attending a farm safety day, where they learnt practical skills to keep safe in their communities.
Riversdale mum Jenna Orpwood organised the safety day after hearing author Harriet Bremner speak about her Think Safe Brain campaign, which targets rural schools around the country, teaching “critical practical lessons” about health, safety and well-being.
“They’re not just learning about safety, there’s also health and wellness – keeping your mind healthy and fuelling it with the right foods,’’ she said.
“There’s gun safety because some kids’ families are doing pest control so they need to learn about safety with firearms, and animal safety - some kids go roaring up to a dog and the dog doesn’t like it. There’s lots of different things, but it’s just about them slowing down and trying to use their think safe brain.”
Orpwood said children often learned bad habits from their parents and she hoped they would pull them up when they saw that happening. “It’s the little things like wearing a helmet on your motorbike, wearing your seatbelt when you’re in a vehicle. They’re simple things that take no time to do but they can make a big difference.”
Agricultural equipment such as a harvester, tractors, a stock truck, a milk tanker, motorbikes and firefighting gear were all on hand for children to learn how to be safe around.
Emergency services personnel also provided practical lessons, such as what to say when calling 111, PowerNet taught children how to deal with live wires, and even Chubb the huntaway from NS Vets taught them how to approach a dog they hadn’t met before.
Emily Crooks, 6, of Riversdale School, said she learned ‘’to stay in the car when you’ve had a crash’’, and Waelyn Dysart, 5, of Balfour School said: ‘’With guns you should always point them at the ground, and if you find one, don’t touch it.“
Dani Watson, 8, of Riversdale School, said when meeting a dog, people should hold their hand out to a dog and let it have a sniff, and not to play with its food.
Sergeant Eric Browne, of Gore, taught basic gun safety during the day.
“Probably about 95% of these kids are growing up in a rural environment so it’s important that they are learning this stuff as they grow up. They already had a good understanding of quite a lot of it but days like this reinforce it and make it fun too it’s a really good community day.”