Staying safe: it’s Crucial

The culmination of a series of workshops across Basildon district enabled Year 6 pupils to learn about keeping safe and meet their Police and Crime Commissioner.

On Wednesday April 2, the Crucial Crew team held a series of workshops at James Hornsby High School in Basildon, with pupils from neighbouring schools including South Green Junior School also involved.  

The topics included healthy relationships, anti-social behaviour, drugs and alcohol, fire safety, bullying and weapons awareness.

The workshops were led by specialist teams including Essex Police, the NHS, Essex County Fire and Rescue and Only Cowards Carry, who raise awareness about the dangers of knife crime.

The pupils got the chance to try on beer goggles to experience the effects of too much alcohol.  The Only Cowards Carry team brought home the danger of knives in an impactful fashion, providing strategies for avoiding risky situations. The bullying workshops helped explain how to recognise and stop bullying.

Speaking with the young people, Nick Alston said: “I’ve learnt so much today and I can really see these scenarios making a difference to young people’s lives. We can all help to make Essex as safe as possible and I really hope you remember the things you have learnt today. Please talk about these experiences and continue to look after each other.”

Gerry Levelle, Chairman of the Basildon Community Safety Partnership said: “The Basildon CSP believes events such as this are invaluable in raising awareness of issues which may be faced in real life by young people. Engaging with year 6 primary school pupils shortly before they progress to secondary school enables them to deal with issues such as bullying, alcohol, smoking and aspects of weapons awareness such as knife crime.”

One 11-year-old student said the workshop she learnt the most from was the bullying session which centred on physical, verbal and cyber bullying. “It made me realise how I can stay safe online and I now know how to change my privacy settings.”Another 11-year-old pupil added: “The weapons awareness one made me think about how I could react effectively if I was in that scenario.”

Nick Alston concluded: “I’m a supporter of Crucial Crew and all well-thought out programmes for helping young people to become more aware of risk.  We live in a county which is generally very safe, but there are always new dangers emerging – for instance, with criminals and predatory individuals operating on the internet.  Crucial Crew helps equip our young people for some of the challenging situations they will face, and I’m pleased that similar workshops are delivered in secondary schools so the learning process is always ongoing.  Staying safe is ‘Crucial’.”