Marcia O’Brien is the school’s ICT coordinator. “The film project was huge and it was the children who decided it had to be made. They’d been bombarded with bushfire information in the media following last February’s fires and wanted to learn more and it was also the 40th anniversary of the Lara fires.”
In support of the motivated school, the brigade re-jigged the Brigades in Schools format with students spending full days at the station. Building on that were fire awareness nights run for parents.
Libby Bate is the Brigades in Schools coordinator for Lara. “One of the most positive things would be the parent information sessions. Parents and children were invited to the station and introduced to the Reduce the Risk material. Home escape plans are a family responsibility so I’m sure this increased the impact of what we covered with the students.”
Clearly there’s great enthusiasm within Lara Brigade for Brigades in Schools backed up by enormous commitment. “At last count our brigade has put in 400-plus man hours to teach the 800-plus kids in the last 12 months,” says Captain Greg McManus. “We’ve received large amounts of positive feedback from the school and the kids’ parents and we think it’s a worthwhile effort for the potentially life-saving outcomes.
“Whilst the program is known as Brigades in Schools, we've put additional spin on it by calling it Schools in the Brigade. We’ve modified the program so that certain class levels are hosted at the station for a day and have a number of lessons. On occasion they’ve been present during operational call outs and other activities so, in a safe, supervised environment, they’ve seen the fire station working in all aspects.
"We were recently awarded a grant to help fund audio-visual equipment in recognition of the great work done working with the kids and their families."
“The brigade was really quite incredible; phenomenal,” says Marcia. “You can’t measure the amount of goodwill that came from the days the students spent at the station and the information nights.
“A lot of children started out very distressed by the February bushfires but by tackling the topic it calmed their fears. They seriously leant a lot. As far as they were concerned the DVD was made to teach ‘little kids’ meaning preps, Grade Ones and Twos!
“Supported by their class teacher Roslyn Heywood the students started working on the film in March and it just kept growing and took on a life of its own. Work didn’t stop until November followed by a premiere with local dignitaries including CFA members walking the red carpet.”
The children also organised a dress-up day with all proceeds going to the Lara CFA.
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