School Safety Week
Over the past couple of weeks the school has been focusing on all aspects of safety. This has been explored through discussion as well as from visits from outside agencies. The children extremely enjoyed the visit from Garston Fire Brigade. The sessions were conducted in 2 groups ie Key Stage 2 and Reception and Key Stage one, with 2 aspects both a practical and theorectical. After touring the fire engine and learning about all the fire fighting equipment (as well as trying some on), the children from Key stage one had the opportunity to shoot water out of the hose which thrilled them to bits!!! They were all well behaved and asked loads of pertinent and relevant questions. All the children listened well and found it very informative. One point to note which was stressed to the children – is that if your family does not have a smoke alarm you can call your local fire brigade and they will install one for you for free.
The children were also visited by the local police department which was organised by Malini Nitai. Three police officers came and made presentations about different aspects of their work and the hazards of the internet, personal safety etc. This week we will be visited by Gandharvika dasi and Dakshina dasi who are the National Child Protection Coordinators for the UK. They will be addressing the children in matters of Child Protection and Safeguarding.
Here are some personal reflections and quotes from the children in Key Stage 2
Anasuya: “I now feel more safe and enjoyed listening to the stories of tackling crime.”
Isha: “THe inside of the fire engine was really interesting because of all the equipment needed and also the high tech computer.”
Subhadra: ” We enjoyed getting the work and information sheets. The police officers made me feel safe.”
Nadia: “It was interesting to learn that facebook is not safe.”
Gita: “I think the firefighters is a cool job. I think it would be nice to be a hero and save people’s lives.”
Jagannath: “I appreciated the stories illustrating the dangers of facebook.”
Ruth: “It was fun trying on the firefighters outfit.”
Shyam: “It was incredible to hear the stories from the police and also about the CEOP website that is manned 24/7 by the police.”
Taliah – ” I thought the inside of the fire engine was really intersting – especially seeing all the equipment that is needed.”
Savitri: “I really enjoyed spraying the fire man’s hose.”
Gopi Ishwaree: “I liked to hear about the things to do to keep safe.”
St Christopher School visits Bhaktivedanta Manor
Children of both schools doing art together
Last week the Year 1 class from St. Christopher’s Primary School in Letchworth made their annual visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor temple and school. Over the past couple of years the schools have worked in partnership by developing pen pal relationships between the children. They have visited each other in their schools and have kept up a regular correspondence with each other. In the Jagannath class the children all sang songs to each other. They then fully engaged in a puppet show story of Krishna and the fruit seller skilfully enacted by Devyani , followed by an arts and crafts activity of making peacock fans for Krishna. Later they dressed up in saris, turbans and chadars and participated in the midday arotik led by the children of Bhaktivedanta Manor School. The day concluded with a lunch feast together in the glorious sunshine and a wonderful run around in the adventure playground. The bonds established between the schools serves many educational purposes. They always look forward to their letters and photos and especially visiting each other.
The children enjoying lunch together
