The Health and Safety Award 2014/15
The Health and Safety Award 2014/15
‘The Health and Safety Task Force’
Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School, Wakefield
Nominated by: Andrew Carter
Pupils at Sandal Castle Community Primary School in Wakefield have been praised for their health and safety assessments and work highlighting risks during the extension of their school.
Building work started to extend the school at Barnsley Road began in February 2014 to accommodate the 270 infants moving from the Pinfold Road site just 400 yards away. The junior and infant schools amalgamated in 2010.
But rather than be put out by the disruption the children took an active role in patrolling their temporary yard, the older part of the junior building as well as the new extension.
The children carried out their own safety assessments and arranged meetings to report any lapses in fencing, building rubbish and matters of concern.
Teacher Andrew Carter said everyone at the school was delighted with the recognition.
“We are delighted with the award. We are big on children’s voices being heard and they’ve astonished me with their professionalism and how seriously they’ve taken the subject, which let’s face it- health and safety can often be dismissed as boring,” he said.
“The children have revolutionised health and safety at the school and how we view and address it. The aim of the health and safety task force was to ensure pupils recognised the importance of health and safety and become key stakeholders in health and safety within school.
There can be no doubt this has been achieved, the children now enjoy and take great pride in the importance of health and safety.
They play a real and active part in promoting health and safety across the site. They have been recognised by staff, governors and the local authority as being key in placing health and safety at the heart of every day school life.”
Harry Westbury, eight, is one of the health and safety task force members and said: “I like being on the task force because we get to make school safer, and if school’s safer everyone’s happier and if everyone is happy then they learn more.”
