Helping children from birth to 18 years of age understand the dangers and make safe and positive choices is an important part of their development.
We provide resources for parents, carers, teachers, educators, and group leaders to use with children to help them understand how they can stay safe.
Resources are available to suit different learning styles, ages and level of understanding and cover the main topics of:
- Fire detection and escape
- Fire prevention in the home
- Fire play and hoax calls
- Safety outdoors – fire, water and roads
- Inspired by firefighters – life skills such as communication, teamwork, perseverance, fitness and healthy eating, reading, maths, arts and crafts.
We use a risk-based system to prioritise our engagement with children via their educational setting, community groups or individually.
Requests for fire and rescue service visits will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be supported where possible:
Schools
Safety education, allowing children to understand the risks and make positive safer choices is our priority when working with children.
Our education team can provide educational ,enjoyable and interactive lessons delivered in school, and resources for you to use for self-delivery.
Where possible we will respond to requests for firefighters and fire engines as capacity allows, however please be aware that these are working operational firefighters and capacity may not allow a visit, or they may have to respond to emergencies.
If you would like a visit to your school either as part of the planned curriculum, for reassurance following an incident or as a result of anti-social behaviour such as hoax calls or fire setting please fill in this form: https://forms.office.com/e/wDqtkXSvsb
Requests for attendance at school fayres etc by fire appliance please fill in the community events request form Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service | Contact Us (dwfire.org.uk)
Organised children’s group ie Scouting/ Guiding/ Youth Groups
Visits by organised children’s groups will be considered on a case by case basis, as unfortunately in some locations we do not have capacity. Where stations are able to support visits you will be placed on a waiting list and contacted when the crew have capacity to book your visit. Please fill in this form to request your visit. https://forms.office.com/e/08jPFn1Hen
Home Education Children
We will be offering Elective Home Education Days for home educated children to visit a fire station with their parent/carer next academic year. Please check back for future dates and locations
Pre-schools/nurseries
Visits by pre-schools and nurseries will be considered on a case by case basis, as unfortunately in some locations we do not have capacity. Where stations are able to support visits you will be placed on a waiting list and contacted when the crew have capacity to book your visit. Please fill in this form to request your visit. https://forms.office.com/e/4TdQ73b03j
Are you concerned about a child who is playing with fire or worried about their fire safety?
If you are concerned that a child is playing with fire or is worried about their fire safety we can offer help and advice. Please visit Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service | Fire Safety Intervention (dwfire.org.uk) for further information and to be able to refer the child for help.
As a parent/carer this can be very worrying if your child is playing with fire or scared for their fire safety, please do contact us for none judgemental help and advice. Please note although the referral can come from anyone professional who engages with the child (teacher, social worker etc) we do need parental permission to engage with the child.
Group Talks to Adults:
Whilst we recognise that talks and events are a great opportunity to get into the community and engage with people who would benefit from having a Safe & Well visit, we have seen an increase in the volume of requests. Due to this increase in demand and a restructure within our team, we regret that we do not have the resources to be able to attend talks or events at the present time. Our website has comprehensive fire safety information that all members of the public can access, as well as information for businesses and for those within a care profession.
This link takes you to all our free downloaded leaflets: Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service | Free downloadable leaflets (dwfire.org.uk)
Please follow the links on the right hand side for more information.