School children learn life skills at Clipstone police safety awareness event
Hundreds of schoolchildren have learnt all about rural and wildlife crime after taking part in police safety awareness events.
Nottinghamshire Police delivered a series of educational sessions at Sconce and Devon Park in Newark and Vicar Water Country Park in Clipstone between June 10 and 21.
Officers and schoolchildren engaged in a roleplaying scenario to learn about what types of behaviour are appropriate in a public place and how to look after the environment, wildlife, and green spaces.
Children were taught about littering and not to use slingshots to target wildlife and birds.
Each group then put their new knowledge to the test by taking part in a game where they answered different questions from officers and indicated their answers by walking to the correct cone.
In total, it is estimated around 1,000 schoolchildren took part in the sessions across two weeks.
Activities and talks during the sessions were led by officers from Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, Newark & Sherwood Council Park Rangers, VIA Road Safety, Hope Nottingham, which operates food banks across the city, Newark Community First Aid, Sherwood Forest and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The roleplay scenario was well-received by the enthusiastic children, who also had the opportunity to ask the officers questions, try on police hats, and check out one of the force’s off-road four-by-fours as part of the engaging sessions.
Insp Charlotte Ellam, district commander for Newark & Sherwood said: “We’re really pleased to be able to work with our local partners on this important education project for young people.
“Across the two weeks, we estimate around 1,000 children attended.
“It is really important that we engage with, and educate, impressionable schoolchildren to help them understand what types of behaviour are acceptable to be an upstanding member of our communities and equip them with the life skills necessary to keep themselves safe.
“Keeping people safe is our top priority as a police force, so we’re always keen to get involved in anything like this that can make a positive difference to our communities.”
Matthew Finch, director of communities and environment at Newark & Sherwood Council added: “These sessions are a great way to educate and inform people about safety and really getting those important messages across in an interactive way that people can enjoy as they learn.”