Dorset comms team grab Dragon chance
You may recall at last year’s FirePRO conference that DCLG spoke about an opportunity to get involved with How to Train Your Dragon 2. They had been approached by 20th Century Fox to work together in promoting fire safety at home following the release of the film. At Dorset, we grabbed the opportunity with both hands and our Communication Manager worked alongside our Education Manager to provide an exciting day out for one local school that showcased the education packs we produced to support the film.
The link between fire safety and dragons was easy- within the first five minutes of the film you discover the dragons have moved in with the Vikings! Encouraging pupils to take fire safety advice from two friendly characters like Hiccup and Toothless isn’t hard either. The educational packs are designed for different school age groups with a range of activities for each. They have been made simple for teachers to pick up and use as they are, or they can input their own messages to enhance the learning.
The pupils from Greenford Primary School were invited along to their local cinema for a private screening of the film, followed by a fun filled afternoon of fire safety activities (and of course a squirt of the hose!) at Dorchester Fire Station. They were selected for the support and guidance teachers at the school had provided in developing the national teacher resources.
The teacher education resources are designed to help teach the children important fire safety messages and how to keep themselves safe whilst supporting other skills. They can be found on our website www.dorsetfire.gov.uk
- Emily Cheeseman, Dorset FRS