Water safety advice
Following from our Staying Safe themed week and in association with National Drowning Prevention Week, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) has released the following water safety advice.
As the Summer months are approaching and with more good weather on the way, young and old alike should be aware of the dangers of open water.
An open water source may look like a good way to cool down on a hot day, but every year, in the UK, around 400 people die from drowning as a result of an accident in or around water.
Nationally, the emergency services respond to over 100,000 water-related rescues, and flood events every year.
Reservoirs may look tempting to take a swim in but they can be killers and we’d like to raise awareness of these risks amongst young people. Cold water shock can lead to hyperventilation, increased blood pressure, breathing difficulties and heart attacks plus water temperatures remain just as cold in summer as in winter. Yorkshire Water have produced Cold Water Kills video to reinforce this message.
A summer safety message from the Royal National Life Saving Institute (RNLI), ‘Float to Live’, is a hard-hitting video, with advice on how to react should you become stricken in cold water.
Everyone who falls unexpectedly into cold water wants to follow the same instinct, to swim hard and to fight the cold water. But when people fight it, chances are, they lose. Cold water shock makes you gasp uncontrollably and breathe in water, which can quickly lead to drowning.
If you find yourself unexpectedly in the water, the message is to float until the cold water shock has passed and you will be able to control your breathing and have a far better chance of staying alive.
Safety Advice for Dog Walkers
- Avoid throwing sticks or balls near water for dogs – they will go after it if they think you want it back even if you’ve thrown it too far or into dangerous water
- Never enter the water to try and save a dog – the dog usually manages to scramble out
- Even dogs that like swimming can usually only swim for short bursts
- Keep and eye of your dog and don’t let it enter the water if it’s older or tired
- If your dog loves the water keep it on a lead and make sure you have control to prevent it jumping into hazardous or unsafe areas
- Remember the wet riverbanks, steep edges or jagged rocks can make it hard for a dog to scramble out and be a slip risk for owners
- Don’t lean into water and try and lift your dog out – you can topple in
- Dogs can have cold water shock too
- If your dog has struggled in the water it may have inhaled water and should see a vet as dogs can drown after the event if water has entered the lungs
What to do if someone falls into deep water
- The first thing to do is call for help – straightaway. Call 999, ask for fire service and ambulance. The emergency services will need to know where you are. Accurate information can save precious minutes. If you have a smart phone and have location services or map tool enabled, this can help.
- Don’t hang up – stay on the line but try and continue to help the person if appropriate.
- Never ever enter the water to try and save someone. This usually ends up adding to the problem. If you go into the water you are likely to suffer from cold
- Can the person help themselves? Shout to them ‘Swim to me’. The water can be disorientating. This can give them a focus.
- Look around for any lifesaving equipment. Depending on where you are there might be lifebelts or throw bags – use them. If they are attached to a rope make sure you have secured or are holding the end of the rope so you can pull them in.
- If there is no lifesaving equipment look at what else you can use. There may be something that can help them stay afloat – even an item such as a ball can help.
- You could attempt to reach out to them. Clothes such as scarves can be used to try and reach or a long stick. If you do this lie on the ground so your entire body is safely on the edge and reach out with your arm. Don’t stand up or lean over the water– you may get pulled in.
- Be mindful that if the water is cold the person may struggle to grasp an object or hold on when being pulled in.
Upcoming diving competition
The Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships 2017 are taking place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 06 – 09 July 2017. This is the largest national diving competition in England, with athletes battling for national honours across individual events on the 1m and 3m Springboards and the Platform, and as synchronised pairs from the 1m and 3m Springboard.
Tickets are available if you would like the opportunity to watch a National Diving Competition.
Maybe you might be inspired to give diving a go.
Dancing raisins
In our Food mini-topic so far, we’ve been learning about sources of food, where in the world our food comes from, different food groups and which are the most important for our health (check out the Eat Well Guide). Today, we became scientists to carry out an experiment with a type of food – raisins.
The children suggested their own question to test using different equipment and resources provided. It was great to see the progress the children have made with their scientific questioning throughout the year. The chosen test was to see what happened when we put raisins in the still water and the fizzy water. After using another key scientific skill, predicting, we started our test by making sure it was fair, too.
The results were dancing raisins in the fizzy water!
Our observation skills were needed to watch what was happening to the raisins and the bubbles. After the investigation, there were some great suggestions about what we could test next. Isabella wondered what might happen if we tried it in apple or orange juice?
Finally, we did some mindful eating (using our senses) to try some raisins. Most of us were able to wait until we actually tasted them!
Edible homework?
This week, as is often the case, Year 4 produced some superb homework. The children certainly got their thinking caps on and came up with unique, explosive, detailed and edible ideas!
The theme was ‘Extreme Earth’.
Very well done to Pia who came up with the idea of baking buns and using icing. She created volcano, tsunami and earthquake buns – too good to eat!
Dylan and Albert both caused a big eruption!
Take a look at the photos on show.
Another well done to Isaac who made his very own Top Trump cards.
Observing Science
We enjoyed some more Science learning at the end of last week; it focused on predictions and observations. We bought some ‘soapy foam’ and predicted what we felt would happen to it if it were squirted onto a paper plate and left for the whole day. This meant we needed to observe it over a period of time and allowed us to adapt our predictions as it changed.
We also did a much quicker observation when we were challenged to place an item into an already full glass of water without any spilling over. In the picture above, you can see the children noticing the (meniscus) curve which is created when a circular container is at its fullest.
We managed to place a cotton wool ball, a penny and a bulldog clip into the glasses without them spilling over. However, we concluded that the glasses into which we placed the penny and the bulldog clip may not have been totally full as we couldn’t explain, scientifically, why they wouldn’t overflow. With the cotton wool ball, we felt that the water could take up the space between the fibres and the fibres could take up the space in between the water particles.
Holiday planning
In our Maths lessons this week, Year 6 are busy booking me a holiday! They’ve got some specific criteria to stick to and are quickly realising that holiday planning is tricky with lots and lots to consider – particularly money.
I’ve given them a budget of £2500 to take my partner and me away during the Summer holidays. I’m hoping to go diving and experience some culture but don’t want to fly for longer than four hours. The children have really risen to the task and have started creating a persuasive PowerPoint to convince me that their holiday is the one to go on.
We’ll let you know whose holiday gets my vote in the end some time next week.
American Independence Day themed menu
Catering Leeds, our school meal provider, will be running a special American Independence themed menu on Wednesday 05 July.
Please contact the office by Friday 16 June if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
Tropical World!
Sharing reading
On Friday afternoon, Year 4 spent some time sharing reading with Reception class. It was lovely to see how well the older children interacted with the younger ones and vice versa. Getting enjoyment through reading is something that we want to promote and all the children seemed to be getting a lot of pleasure through this activity.
What a super way to spend half an hour on a sunny Friday afternoon.
Science with Liquorice Allsorts
Y6 have begun a Science topic this half term and begun by learning about classification keys. We began by very simply sorting the sweets in any way we chose.
We then used the Liquorice Allsorts to discuss what yes and no questions you could use to distinguish between two of the sweets. Then we used this to sort six different Allsorts into a classification key.
We finished off by starting a classification key to sort the children in the class. We very quickly realised it would take a very big classification key to end up with 30 individual children.