children Archives

The UYCH Yarra Junction Kindergarten children visited the Hillcrest Fire Station last week. They were greeted by the brigade members and each child had their very own turn of squirting water from the hose putting a big smile on all their faces. Our educators Maddie, Sarah and Suzie had a go at well, Sarah knocked the tub over with her hose and everyone thought that was very impressive.

It was extremely exciting when all the children were given a tour of the fire truck and even got to sit in the truck. Then they embarked on a trip inside the station and learnt about making a fire plan and that when there is a fire they need to get down low and go, go, go!

The children were introduced to a member of the brigade who was wearing a breathing apparatus and we listened to the funny sound it made. They learnt not to be scared and that fire fighters help us. They called out “Fire Brigade” and everybody yelled “I’m here”

The children were even made a delicious morning tea and including Milo which was a big hit. Overall a brilliant time was had by all and they gained appreciation for the great work our fire fighters do in order to protect our community. The children had loads to say about the day, here is what some of them said:

“My Favourite part was squirting the hose. I liked it when the tubs fell over”

“I loved going in the fire trucks and hearing the sirens and seeing the lights and I liked the show bag the most”

“I loved squirting the water and seeing the lights”

“We squirted the hose and then we had a look in the fire trucks and we saw the fire car and we dipped a bickie in our Milo”

“We practised what to do in a fire. You have to duck and crawl out to the letterbox. And we did funny jokes like can you hide in the toilet?”

This is our first excursion to a fire station with a kindergarten group and thanks to the Hillcrest Fire Brigade it won’t be our last. The children had there best time so thank you to all involved, we can’t wait till next year.

Click here for further information on UYCH Family and Children’s Services.

Last month we were lucky to have a visit from Debbie of the Mt Evelyn Vet Clinic. Debbie ran an exciting program for the children called PetPEP (Pets and People Education Program) which is an initiative of the Australian Veterinary Association throughout Australia. PetPEP teaches children and the community about responsible pet ownership, safety around animals, healthy living (pets and people), welfare of animals and animals in the community. The program helps integrate responsible pet care messages into the classroom, to teach our next generation about the responsibilities associated with owning animals and how to behave safely around them.

Debbie brought her gorgeous little one year old dog Hugo in with her to demonstrate to the children how to behave around animals. Debbie taught the children about the difference between friendly, scared and aggressive animals, and how we should (or should not) approach them safely. After this, she taught the children the safest way to approach a friendly dog and ask their owner if they could have a pat. They all got to give Hugo a pat which he lapped up of course. Hugo then showed us some tricks which had smiles all round. Once all the serious stuff was over the children jumped at the opportunity to dress up and role play as Vets and Vet Nurses, fun was had by all.

To find out more about the PetPEP (Pets and People Education Program) click here.

UYCH Community College offers Certificate III in Animal Studies, click the link to find out more.