Tuesday 16 June 2020
For the past 22 years, for 2 weeks in June, all Year 6 pupils (children aged 10 and 11) from schools across the Bailiwick, have been learning about safety through taking part in activities organised by the Guernsey Child Accident Prevention Group.
The Safety Calling Challenge has enabled children to get involved in seven different accident prevention scenarios with the aim of learning about safety by participating in practical and realistic activities.
Sadly, given the restrictions in place due to COVID-19, the decision was taken in April to cancel the event for this year but instead, all of the Year 6 pupils in the Bailiwick will be receiving the new edition of the Safety Calling Workbook which will help them to learn key safety messages remotely. Effectively, in 2020 we will be taking Safety Calling to the children, rather than bringing the children to Safety Calling.
Yvonne Le Page, Chair of the Guernsey Child Accident Prevention Group said:
"This is the first time since Safety Calling started in 1997 that the Guernsey Child Accident Prevention Group have had to make the difficult decision to cancel. Back in the middle of April it became clear that many of the agencies that help run the event e.g. the Guernsey Police, Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service, St John etc. would not be able to give up their time to lead their scenarios this year and because the event is very 'hands-on', the children would not be able to practice social distancing when it would take place during Phase 4.
We would therefore like to say a huge thank you to all the local companies that have continued to sponsor the Safety Calling workbook, despite the event being cancelled. This has meant we can still provide every Year 6 pupil with their own free copy to work through either at school or at home. We're confident that the children will still be able to learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy if they complete the tasks and quizzes in the workbooks. We have already pencilled in the dates for Safety Calling 2021 so the event will definitely be back next year."
Imogen Berryman, from Guernsey Electricity who are a major sponsor of the book, added:
"Safety Calling is a fantastic initiative and the activity books are particularly popular as they provide guidance in an interactive and fun way so the children can keep themselves safe. We're pleased that Guernsey Electricity can still support the initiative for another year, despite it being in a different way and we look forward to next year's event."