Issued on: Friday 18 May 2018
SPECIAL SCHOOL PUPILS COMPLETE FIRESKILLS COURSE
On Wednesday 16 May, pupils from Maplewell Hall School in Woodhouse Eaves had their final demonstration and presentation evening, marking the end of their FireSkills course at Loughborough Fire and Rescue Station.
Beginning in January, ten pupils, aged 13-17, took part in 11 two-hour sessions which cover a range of skills necessary in firefighting. The sessions were led by three operational firefighters, with a teacher from the school joining in too. Over the sessions, the children learnt skills such as rolling out hoses, spraying water, carrying a dummy casualty, and carrying ladders.
Over the weeks, the instructors, teachers and parents all mentioned seeing a huge change in all of the pupils, who met each new task with determination, despite all having additional learning needs. Teamwork, willpower and perseverance were all tested and improved.
Funded by the school, the course allowed the children to participate in something different to the usual after-school activities, and went down amazingly, with one parent commenting: “It’s all my son has talked about for months. It’s nice for him to have something else to talk about other than school, which is unusual for him”.
Alan Fawkner, Area Manager at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, led the presentations of a FireSkills certificate on Wednesday. He said: “It was nice to see so many new children experiencing FireSkills, especially due to their special needs, it was amazing to watch”
“I must thank all the staff both at LFRS and Maplewell Hall School who generously gave up their time to help make this happen”.
ENDS
Notes to editors: Photos available by request from Corporate Communications on the details below.
About the Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency response, prevention and protection services from 20 stations across Leicester, Leicestershire and
Rutland. Its headquarters is based in Birstall, Leicester.
The Service’s prevention, education, enforcement and inspection programmes have resulted in significant reductions in the number of incidents. In the last ten years, fire-related incidents have reduced by 43 percent.
During 2016/17, the Service attended 694 road traffic collisions, of which 148 were extrications from vehicles, in addition to 2,259 fires. 272 schools were visited as part of the Service’s schools programme, delivering fire and road safety education to pupils. Staff organised or took part in 1,613 community safety events, promoting fire and road safety and arson prevention, and 145 Virtual Fatal Four (VF4) events as part of the Service’s young drivers’ road safety project.
Contact:
Corporate Communications
0116 229 2195
corporate.communications@lfrs.org
