Teaching life-long wellbeing skills to the next generation

Last week, the New Directions Training team visited Terrace Road Primary School in Swansea to deliver life-long wellbeing skills training to year 5 and year 6 pupils. The training sessions were delivered as part of the school’s ‘Wellbeing Week’ and they included Life Saving Skills and British Sign Language sessions too.

On Thursday 3^rd October 2019, our trainers – Del and Oliver – attended Terrace Road Primary School, where they introduced the year 5 and year 6 pupils to key first aid skills and British Sign Language (BSL). In total, 65 children were trained in these beneficial life-long skills through interactive learning sessions, supporting their school’s wellbeing week initiative.

Life Saving Skills session

The day kicked off with some fun, interactive and hands-on Life Saving Skills work with Oliver, who taught the pupils how to offer vital help and first aid in emergency situations and manage common injuries and ailments, from bleeding to choking. The children even learned CPR, giving them the skills required to save lives should they ever need to. These are skills that the children will be able to carry with them throughout their lives, enabling them to help others who need assistance. All the pupils got stuck in and participated in a range of first aid activities, which will undoubtedly prove to be fundamental life-long wellbeing skills and knowledge as they grow into adult members of our society.

British Sign Language session

Following the successful first aid session, Del delivered an interactive British Sign Language (BSL) lesson. In this session, the children of Terrace Road Primary School learned some basic words and greetings, enabling them to introduce themselves and communicate with a deaf person using simple BSL. The session drew to a close with the class learning how to sign two well-known songs; ‘I Can Sing a Rainbow’ helped the pupils to learn the signs for different colours, and the children also managed to sign along to ‘What a Wonderful World’ as a finale, before receiving a certificate at the end of the day.

A successful day

All year 5 and year 6 pupils at Terrace Road Primary School appeared to enjoy both the First Aid and British Sign Language sessions, taking away some valuable life-long wellbeing skills in the process and making the training a success all round. The day ended on a high note with the pupils performing ‘I Can Sing a Rainbow’ and ‘What a Wonderful World’ in BSL in front of their fellow pupils and their teachers. The school’s Additional Learning Needs Coordinator, Miss George, was in the audience for the performance and she said that she just “wasn’t prepared for the performance – it was quite emotional!”

Michelle Phillips from the Swansea New Directions Education branch also commented on the day, saying:

We are so thrilled that New Directions have been a part of helping children at Terrace Road Primary School learn Life Saving Skills and British Sign Language. My colleague Kelly and I loved how interactive and receptive the children were to the learning. Every single child was engaged, and it was lovely to see them sign to ‘What a Wonderful World’ at the end of the session.

More about our Life Saving Skills and BSL training for children

New Directions offer Life Saving Skills and British Sign Language training to primary school children in year 6 across Wales, delivering over 400 sessions to more than 12,000 children in the last academic year. The hour-long sessions are available for mornings or afternoons, tying in with break times, lunchtimes and school finishing times, so they work well around your school day.

Our popular Life Saving Skills session covers a range of first aid topics that are tailored to suit children, including:

• Getting help
• The choking casualty
• How to check if someone is breathing
• Burns
• Bleeds
• Bandages
• And CPR

Meanwhile, the British Sign Language session provides basic signing skills to enable pupils to communicate with a person with hearing difficulties. The session covers:

• Your name (My name is…)
• Hello
• Good morning
• Goodbye
• Alphabet
• And “I Can Sing A Rainbow” in BSL

If you would like to access this training for children in your school, contact your New Directions Account Manager for details today or enquire using the form below.