The first cohort of 30 students from Chifley College, Cranebrook High School, and Cranebrook Park High School have donned the orange overall at Blacktown SES Unit’s ‘Get Ready Youth’ workshop run by seasoned volunteers.
“It has been joyful getting to learn experiences and life skills to carry away from this excursion,” Chifley College’s wellbeing captain Joshua Hagan said.
“I’ve enjoyed the groundwork skills like window repairs and sandbagging. It has been fun to learn new things so we can understand how to manage in emergencies.”
Anitusi Pualilo, Chifley Mt Druitt campus student said the training was “valuable for me because when an emergency happens, I already know what I’m supposed to do.”
The workshops introduce students what SES volunteers do, learn transferrable skills to use when they join the workforce, and how to respond in times of emergencies wherever they may be.
“It is a good way for students to gain skills that are exportable and can be used to get their first job,” head teacher Deavelyn Besterwitch said.
“It also exposes them to the SES training and know how to respond in the next emergency.
“The other purpose connects the curriculum they learn in the classroom to also learn about hazards management.
“One of the aims of the NSW Educational Pathways Program is to connect curriculum to industry and these workshops provide the links.”
At workshops, students learn everything that happens when SES are on the job to rescue people and properties, how to prepare rescue packs, safely put on life jackets, throw safety bags to people trapped in floodwaters, safely climb a ladder, and get to know what’s inside a rescue vehicle and the equipment it carries.
They also learn what apps they must have on their mobile phones to receive warning such as Hazards Near Me and HazardWatch.
When evacuations are in place, the students were taught what to do particularly those who live in the Hawkesbury-Nepean area which is one of the risky flood zones in NSW.
For more details about the NSW Education’s Educational Pathways Program, visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/career-and-study-pathways/educational-pathways-program
