Water safety advice
Following from our Staying Safe themed week and in association with National Drowning Prevention Week, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) has released the following water safety advice.
As the Summer months are approaching and with more good weather on the way, young and old alike should be aware of the dangers of open water.
An open water source may look like a good way to cool down on a hot day, but every year, in the UK, around 400 people die from drowning as a result of an accident in or around water.
Nationally, the emergency services respond to over 100,000 water-related rescues, and flood events every year.
Reservoirs may look tempting to take a swim in but they can be killers and we’d like to raise awareness of these risks amongst young people. Cold water shock can lead to hyperventilation, increased blood pressure, breathing difficulties and heart attacks plus water temperatures remain just as cold in summer as in winter. Yorkshire Water have produced Cold Water Kills video to reinforce this message.
A summer safety message from the Royal National Life Saving Institute (RNLI), ‘Float to Live’, is a hard-hitting video, with advice on how to react should you become stricken in cold water.
Everyone who falls unexpectedly into cold water wants to follow the same instinct, to swim hard and to fight the cold water. But when people fight it, chances are, they lose. Cold water shock makes you gasp uncontrollably and breathe in water, which can quickly lead to drowning.
If you find yourself unexpectedly in the water, the message is to float until the cold water shock has passed and you will be able to control your breathing and have a far better chance of staying alive.
Safety Advice for Dog Walkers
- Avoid throwing sticks or balls near water for dogs – they will go after it if they think you want it back even if you’ve thrown it too far or into dangerous water
- Never enter the water to try and save a dog – the dog usually manages to scramble out
- Even dogs that like swimming can usually only swim for short bursts
- Keep and eye of your dog and don’t let it enter the water if it’s older or tired
- If your dog loves the water keep it on a lead and make sure you have control to prevent it jumping into hazardous or unsafe areas
- Remember the wet riverbanks, steep edges or jagged rocks can make it hard for a dog to scramble out and be a slip risk for owners
- Don’t lean into water and try and lift your dog out – you can topple in
- Dogs can have cold water shock too
- If your dog has struggled in the water it may have inhaled water and should see a vet as dogs can drown after the event if water has entered the lungs
What to do if someone falls into deep water
- The first thing to do is call for help – straightaway. Call 999, ask for fire service and ambulance. The emergency services will need to know where you are. Accurate information can save precious minutes. If you have a smart phone and have location services or map tool enabled, this can help.
- Don’t hang up – stay on the line but try and continue to help the person if appropriate.
- Never ever enter the water to try and save someone. This usually ends up adding to the problem. If you go into the water you are likely to suffer from cold
- Can the person help themselves? Shout to them ‘Swim to me’. The water can be disorientating. This can give them a focus.
- Look around for any lifesaving equipment. Depending on where you are there might be lifebelts or throw bags – use them. If they are attached to a rope make sure you have secured or are holding the end of the rope so you can pull them in.
- If there is no lifesaving equipment look at what else you can use. There may be something that can help them stay afloat – even an item such as a ball can help.
- You could attempt to reach out to them. Clothes such as scarves can be used to try and reach or a long stick. If you do this lie on the ground so your entire body is safely on the edge and reach out with your arm. Don’t stand up or lean over the water– you may get pulled in.
- Be mindful that if the water is cold the person may struggle to grasp an object or hold on when being pulled in.
Upcoming diving competition
The Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships 2017 are taking place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 06 – 09 July 2017. This is the largest national diving competition in England, with athletes battling for national honours across individual events on the 1m and 3m Springboards and the Platform, and as synchronised pairs from the 1m and 3m Springboard.
Tickets are available if you would like the opportunity to watch a National Diving Competition.
Maybe you might be inspired to give diving a go.
American Independence Day themed menu
Catering Leeds, our school meal provider, will be running a special American Independence themed menu on Wednesday 05 July.
Please contact the office by Friday 16 June if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
SEAL theme – Changes
We start this half term with a focus on manners.
Our SEAL statement is I cover my mouth (when I yawn, cough, sneeze).
For coughing and sneezing we have referred to the vampire method of sneezing into your elbow rather than a hand. After introducing this method a few years ago, it is great to see children now doing this without reminders.
During this half term, we start to think about changes the children will experience in school in terms of moving class, key stage and even school.
This SEAL theme tackles the issue of change and aims to equip children with an understanding of different types of change, positive and negative, and common responses to change. The key ideas and concepts behind this theme are:
- Change can be uncomfortable, because it can threaten our basic needs to feel safe and to belong
- Change can also be stimulating and welcome
- Both adults and children can experience a range of powerful and conflicting emotions as a result of change – for example, excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, loss, anger, resentment
- Worries about change can be made worse by uncertainty, lack of information, or misinformation and lack of support from others
- People’s responses to and ability to cope with change are very variable, and might be influenced by individual temperament, previous experience of change, and the nature of the change – chosen or imposed, expected or unexpected, within our control or out of our control
Some children may welcome most forms of change and dislike routine and predictability. Other children may find even small changes very difficult.
Perhaps you can support your child’s learning by discussing at home any current and future changes, too.
Staying Safe week so far
Our themed week has been jam-packed so far with visits from NSPCC, d:side drug education, Moortown Fire Service, Leeds City Council Road Safety team, Canal and Rivers Trust and Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative.
Children have also worked with different classes to take part in safety carousels including food safety, sun safety, water safety, first aid, safety in the home and the importance of safety helmets.
Ask your child about all the learning they have experienced so far.
Still to come is One Day Creative (e-safety drama workshops), local PCSOs, Dogs Trust and an outdoor adventure day for Year 6 at Yeadon Tarn.
Year 5 and 6 parents are invited to watch the e-safety workshop showback at 2:30pm on Thursday.
The weather has certainly helped to encourage lots of children to travel to school in a sustainable way on foot, by bike or scooter. There are two more days to register your journey to school to be in the prize draw for vouchers for each class.
Bike maintenance with Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative
Thank you to Mark and Jack from Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative in Chapel Allerton who checked all the bikes at school today to ensure they were safe and road worthy.
They also delivered some bike maintenance sessions to Year 5 and 6 to make them aware of simple checks they can make to keep safe on their bikes.
Junior Warrior event
Total Warrior are launching a brand-new obstacle event for young people aged between 6 and 11 years old – Junior Warrior!
Total Warrior are a professional events delivery company, putting on events across the country since 2011. They are returning to Leeds for the 4th year, and are expecting over 7,500 people to join them at Bramham Park over the weekend of 24th & 25th June 2017.
In an effort to build on the success of previous years and maintain Total Warrior’s reputation as an epic adventure for all the family, the team don’t want young people stuck on the sidelines this year; they want them getting stuck in. The course will be a (approx) 2K route across the estate at Bramham, with 10 obstacles (tailor built for the age range) to tackle including walls, pipes, nets, loads of mud and an awesome water slide!
It will start and finish adjacent to the car parks and main Event Village in Bramham Park Estate, so navigation on the day will be straightforward. The course will be for children only, but will be easily accessible throughout for spectators. Volunteers and outdoor trained lifeguards (where relevant) will be on each obstacle, and volunteers will be distributed to ensure they have eyes on every section of the course.
Speak out. Stay safe.
The first visitors for our Staying Safe themed week were volunteers from the NSPCC who delivered their Speak out stay safe assembly to all children.
The assembly reinforced key messages about keeping safe and who children can talk to if they are sad or worried. We also met ‘Buddy’ who is their mascot.
Safe travel to school
During our Staying Safe themed week, children are encouraged to test out their learning of being safe in their local environment by travelling to school by scooter, bike or on foot. Children will be learning about road safety and the safe use of scooters and bikes as part of their learning during the week.
Plan a safe route to school, keep safe by wearing a safety helmet if biking or scooting, keep safe in the busy school grounds and safely store your scooters in the scooter pods and bikes in the storage area by Year 3 and 4.
If you do bike to school, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative will be running a Dr Bike event, from 8:30am on Tuesday 23 May, in the main playground. Bring along your bike for a free bike safety check (parents and carers too!).
All children who bike, scoot or walk to school during the themed week should complete the slips (available in class) each day and post them in their class tube to be in the draw for 7 x £10 Love2Shop vouchers.
Staying Safe – how you can get involved
Our next themed week, Staying Safe, starts on Monday.
We hope you can attend our parent information sessions to support your child in their learning.
Tuesday 23 May 2.10pm-3.10pm
O2 and NSPCC online safety workshop (open to all parents), The Space
This hour-long workshop will help parents and carers understand their child’s online world and build confidence to have those important conversations that can help keep children safe online.
Wednesday 24 May 3.15pm-3.45pm
d:side informal information session (open to all parents), The Space
A d:side representative will be available to provide information about your child’s drug education learning during the themed week and answer any other related enquiries.
Thursday 25 May 2.40pm
e-safety drama show back (parents of Year 5 and 6), the hall
Following e-safety drama workshops led by One Day Creative, parents are invited to come and watch the children present their learning from the day.
