PUPILS at a school in Dorchester have been learning how to stay safe with a week of visitors and activities focusing on wellbeing.

Broadmayne First School held a ‘Safe and Healthy Me’ week, where instead of lessons the pupils engaged with different visitors from local organisations.

Michelle Carter-Grogan, who coordinated the week, said: “ I don’t think we can underestimate the impact they have. I think at some point we will have saved a life by teaching our children these valuable life skills.”

Helen Collings, headteacher at Broadmayne First School, said: “The whole school went off timetable for the week and we had lots of different visitors who came in and spoke to the children.

“We had SSE talk about safety around electricity, a workshop on teeth cleaning, they learned how to call 999 and what to say and they all took home cards with emergency numbers to keep next to their beds.

“It was absolutely fantastic and we have had such good feedback from parents and teachers and children about it.

“For us, it was all about giving our pupils the life-long lessons that they should be taught at this age.

“Probably their favourite part was when the RNLI spoke to them about water safety. I think because we have a swimming pool here that really struck a cord with them.”

The Reception class had a playful week, focusing on safety at school with the children making safety signs for the rest of the school. Children also made zebra crossings so that the bears could cross the road mats safely.

The school council put together a mini-challenge of 28 suggestions for every pupil in the school to practise being safe, such as: using a zebra or pelican crossing, learning their home address and phone number, wearing a seatbelt in a vehicle, and putting on a helmet when cycling or scooting.

This helped pupils to embed one of the school’s most important values of being safe into everyday life.