Schools and education
Educating our communities' young people is an important part of what we do as a service.
Introduction
West Midlands Fire Service do extensive work with schools across the West Midlands which are vital to educating the young people of our community on what we do, keeping safe and how they can help us make the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier.
Our website contains details on all of the safety education our firefighters and specialist staff can offer to nurseries, schools and other places of learning, across various age groups. It’s here that you can also get the supporting resources necessary to prepare for, and follow up after our visit.
Our education resources are broken down into 3 core areas. Different courses are available for each area. You can click the area below, or scroll down to each section.
Foundation
People who help us
This firefighter visit is aimed at introducing younger children to the Fire Service, helping them to recognise things that are dangerous and things that are safe and also how to keep themselves safe.
The session lasts about an hour and consists of
- Ellie the Fire Dog story about what a firefighter does
- Looking at Fire Kit
- ‘What’s safe and what’s dangerous’ game
- How to parade
- Finding out about a fire engine
The Big Fire Engine Activity Box
In order to reduce preventable suffering from fire often caused by children themselves, we have also produced The Big Fire Engine Activity Box for teachers. The activity box is designed to provide you, as a teacher, with a range of resources to help you deliver your own fire safety sessions.
It contains teacher’s lesson plans linked to the National Curriculum, stories, films, games and activities aimed at teaching some basic fire safety messages.
We do have to charge for this resource, the current price is £180 per box. These are available to purchase through our Education Officer.
Key Stage 1-4
The Great Fire Safety Session
For Year 2 pupils our session compares and contrasts fire safety and fire prevention at the time of the Great Fire of London to how things are today.
It links to the National Curriculum for History and also meets some of the PSHE guidelines.
This session lasts 45-60 minutes and includes:
- What a firefighter does
- Fire kit and firefighting of 1666 and today
- Equipment used then and now
- How the Great Fire of London started and how fires can start today
- Getting help
- Stop, drop and roll
- Finishing with a story during which everyone joins in
To book a visit please contact us via the relevant email below.
For schools in the Birmingham area: BirminghamOperations.admin@wmfs.net
For schools in Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell: BlackCountryOps.admin@wmfs.net
For schools in Solihull and Coventry: CovSolOps.Admin@wmfs.net
SPARKS
The children will see a short film showing how quickly fire spreads, then they will find out about:
- Smoke detectors
- Escape plans
- Emergency calls
- Fire hazards
- Stop, drop and roll
- Pedestrian safety
- In-car safety
We ask you to provide access to the internet so that the firefighters can access their presentations.
To book a visit please contact us via the relevant email below.
For schools in the Birmingham area: BirminghamOperations.admin@wmfs.net
For schools in Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell: BlackCountryOps.admin@wmfs.net
For schools in Solihull and Coventry: CovSolOps.Admin@wmfs.net
Your Choice Programmes
Additionally trained operational firefighters known as Key Stage 3-4 Educators, visit Secondary Schools to deliver our ‘Your Choice’ Programmes to Year 8 and Year 10 students.
Your Choice: Feel The Heat
‘Your Choice: Feel the Heat’ aims to explore deliberate fire setting and the consequences to the environment and to society.
Your Choice: On The Road
‘Your Choice: On the Road’ aims to consider the consequences of anti-social driving behaviours and features discussions around:
- Driving under the influence of drink or drugs, speeding, mobile phones, not wearing a seatbelt.
- Taking responsibility as a passenger
- Recognising adverse peer pressure
- Behaviour as a pedestrian
These sessions are delivered by our Key Stage 3-4 educator team. To book a visit please contact us via the relevant email below.
For schools in the Birmingham area: BirminghamOperations.admin@wmfs.net
For schools in Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell: BlackCountryOps.admin@wmfs.net
For schools in Solihull and Coventry: CovSolOps.Admin@wmfs.net
Arson and Hoax
In situations where a school is experiencing problems with groups of children setting fires, the Arson and Hoax pack is available. It is an extremely hard-hitting resource that looks at the consequences of making hoax calls or deliberately setting fires. The session is delivered by the fire service however, it is important that the pack is seen by teachers prior to delivery.
This pack is for Year 6 and above and is only available on request.
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Specialist Tailored Learning
Specialist operational firefighters receive additional training to work with children and adults with Special Educational Needs and disabilities.
West Midlands Fire Service has a range of activities for these groups and we request that teachers or group leaders select the activities they feel are appropriate for their group. We can then tailor the activities further as required.
A catalogue of activities is available and can be viewed online or obtained on request through the Education Officer who can also arrange an initial visit with your SEN Educator Firefighter.