Warwickshire’s fire safety swots come top of the class!
School kids in Warwickshire have passed a fire safety quiz with flying colours following a valuable lesson from county firefighters.
The primary school children proved they were top of the class in fire safety by taking part in a quiz that checked their knowledge before and after a visit from some local heroes: firefighters from their local fire stations. Results from the second quiz showed they were, on average, 11% more knowledgeable about fire safety after their lesson!
Twenty primary schools from across the county took part in the quiz, which was organised by Warwickshire Fire & Rescue to evaluate their Year 5 fire safety programme in schools.
Kevin Brindley from Nuneaton Fire Station, a crew manager that has visited local schools, said: “The results just go to show that the work we do with schools is very valuable. We find the children have retained the information we’ve taught them even when we go back to see them in Year 7.
“I think seeing firefighters in the flesh, rather than the pupils having their usual teacher, makes a big difference and they are usually excited to see the fire engine turn up at their school.”
In total, over 800 pupils from across Warwickshire took part in the interactive quiz, which tested their knowledge on subjects such as fire prevention, the causes of fires, escape plans and how to make a 999 emergency call. Typical questions included “Where is a good place to fit your smoke alarm?” and “What do you do if your clothes catch on fire?”.
In their first quiz before the firefighters’ visit, Warwickshire school children scored an average of 78%. But after a lesson in fire safety from their local fire and rescue crew, the primary kids’ scores had increased on average to a whopping 89%!
Ruth Greenhalgh, Schools Liaison Officer for Community Fire Safety, Warwickshire County Council, said: “The pupil scores from all of the primary schools taking part were excellent – well done! The evaluation reflects the comprehensive fire safety knowledge of Warwickshire Year 5 children and is proof of the success of the Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service education programme in schools involving visits from local firefighters.”
Kevin Brindley concluded: ”What’s great is that the pupils also pass the information onto their parents. Families often phone us up to ask about fitting smoke alarms after we’ve spoken to their children.”