RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
November 12, 1998
SOUTH STAFFS SCHOOLS FIRST FOR SAFETY
School children in South Staffordshire are set to learn all about hazards in the home and how to prevent accidents, through a new computer software package from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Two-thirds of the schools in the area will be receiving the Find It, Fix It, computer program for their children, after South Staffordshire Council agreed to buy the package, which encourages children to assess risks in the home.
Find It, Fix It, will be used mainly in first schools and primary schools but will also be used in a safety quiz run for children under 12 which has been held annually for the past 14 years.
It will be the first time a computer program has been used as part of the quiz which has previously included questions on safety literature and videos. The quiz will be held early in January.
The move to install Find It, Fix It, in 30 schools follows a visit by RoSPA’s Safety Education Adviser, Martin Gomberg, to South Staffordshire Council’s offices in Codsall, to show a group of local teachers the program in action earlier this year.
The program provides a 20-minute interactive activity which guides children around a bathroom and kitchen full of potential hazards. The children are asked to point and click to identify hazards and try to solve the problem, like putting an electric kettle cord out of reach.
Martin Gomberg said: "We are pleased that schools in South Staffordshire are showing the initiative by featuring Find It, Fix It, in their schools. Schools have a vital role to play in getting across safety messages which children carry with them through life."
Find It, Fix It, covers the National Curriculum requirements to identify hazards and assess and control risks which children from age seven will look at in their science and design and technology syllabuses.
Produced for RoSPA by 4Mation and sponsored by Domestos, Find It, Fix It, costs £24.50 plus VAT, and is available for PCs and Archimedes computers.
