Home’s hazards in the spotlight

Students at Bunbury Primary School ran a 10-week program last term to educate students about the hazards and dangers of household medicines and other substances.

Alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, over-the-counter medicines, flammable substances, poisons and preventable disease were all covered as part of the program, with each class focusing on different topics.

School Drug Education and Road Aware coordinator Darline Morgan said the program was designed to help children make healthy choices, introduce safe practices and help the school achieve gold SDERA accreditation.

“Positive choices start here, we don’t wait for them to get to high school,” she said.

“We also want to minimise their exposure to things such as passive smoking and things like that, making them aware of the effects it can have on the body.

“If we give them a strong background and understanding of those things now, we are better preparing them to make positive choices when they are teenagers and adults.”

To make the program as effective and relevant as possible, staff incorporated digital technologies such as QR codes into lessons and displays to keep the students engaged.

A culmination of the term’s lessons and projects were displayed in the school library during the final weeks of term so all year levels could see and learn about other class’ topics in their own time.

“When I look at the classroom contributions, we’ve got some fabulous ideas that visually get some really clear messages across,” Mrs Morgan said.

Next term the school’s SDERA focus will be on road safety.