As the finale of their bushfire education lessons for the year, students from Strathewen Primary School engaged with the local community for a bushfire education event where they taught their parents about bushfire safety and took part in other fun activities.
Throughout the year, the students learned about bushfire safety through the Strathewen Arthurs Creek Bushfire Education Partnership, a collaboration between Arthurs Creek-Strathewen Fire Brigade and Strathewen Primary School.
The partnership was developed seven years ago and is going from strength to strength, having been awarded a Spirit of CFA Award earlier this year in the category of Community Engagement.
The program aims to reduce fear of the unknown and build resilience through understanding and community connections.
In 2016 an award-winning claymation was produced. Titled ‘If you care, stay aware, be prepared’, the animation looked at Fire Danger Ratings and what they mean.
The following year, the school produced a picture book as a sequel to the claymation. Titled `Life in the bush, Gem Gem’s next adventure’, the book looked at the precautions that need to be taken to stay safe when living in the Australian bush and helping your neighbours to achieve the same.
This year, the school children worked on updating their claymation, ensuring the fire danger rating information is current and in line with recent changes to the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS).
In addition to updating their claymation, they were also busy making instructional videos, ‘How to use an Inclinometer’ and ‘How to use the Windmate’, which teach people about typography and weather in simple terms.
Chief Officer Jason Heffernan attended the bushfire education event, where children presented what they'd learned about map reading, fire plans, fuel moisture meters and fire danger ratings, and said the kids did a fantastic job.
“Not only are they learning about fire safety and bushfire preparations, but they are also passing this information onto their community,” he said.
“It has been absolutely rewarding to hear from these young people, to see how excited they are and the energy they are putting into this activity.
“Importantly, the topics they’re talking about aren’t simple.
“They’ve learned about in-depth and complex things like understanding how fine fuel moisture meters work and interpreting the AFDRS, and then been able to break down the information in a way they can teach others.
“This is also a fantastic opportunity for personal growth for them; to get up and speak to a group of around 50 adults and have the confidence to share their experiences and knowledge.
“The Strathewen-Arthurs Creek community are much better for the Bushfire Education Partnership and the kids will be well equipped into the future.
“Who knows, we might even have some future CFA firefighters as a result of this innovative program!”