As we lead into what is tipped as being an extremely dangerous fire season, some Dharma students have undertaken to help the community be more fire aware, and prepare for any possible fire event.
On Thursday, students from Grades four, five and six (The Noble Guides) at the Dharma School presented the results of weeks of discussion, preparation and hard work in a Bushfire Expo entitled “Stop the Fire in Hepburn Shire”. Each project reflected the students’ understanding of the importance of fire safety in the Hepburn community and their desire to make a difference.
A audience of parents, friends, teachers and other students were offered bushfire advice and suggestions through a series of stalls and presentations, each with a particular theme:
FORBID THE FLAMES. Students distilled the essence of 50 ideas that they brainstormed, to one important concept: “Know the environment where you live” and what the risks are. They offered Go-Bags and appropriate badges, stickers and pamphlets.
BAN THE BUSHFIRES. The focus of this group (after 47 original ideas!) was “How to prepare your property for bushfire season” and ensuring you have a Bushfire Plan.
THE BUREAU OF FIRE INTELLIGENCE. These students produced a board game for the whole family to play that involves navigating around the board collecting points for your preparedness.
WILD FIRES. The theme that this group came up with was PPP – Plan, Prepare, Put into action. As a motivation, they produced (non-edible) fortune cookies containing different preparedness messages.
As a reward for their efforts, Daylesford CFA Captain Glenn Webster, who had visited the school earlier as part of the students’ preparation for the event, treated the children and their guests to a demonstration of one of the CFA’s “Big Red Fire-Trucks” with sirens blaring, lights flashing and water streaming.
“These wonderful, gentle souls have produced some truly exceptional, original and thought-provoking ideas, I was blown away by them.” Captain Webster said. “It’s so encouraging to see our young people thinking deeply about how to keep their community safe, They are truly amazing young citizens.”
The children’s teacher Dr Rachel Taylor said how proud she was of the children. “They embraced the topic with delight and they were adamant that they wanted to give something to the community.”
Dharma School Principal, Andrea Furness, praised the students for their initiative. “This was student-led learning at its best – it empowered the students and provided benefits for the children that they carry over into other parts of the curriculum and their lives, as well as providing a benefit for the community.”
