Know Safety? No pain. No Safety? Know pain.

Stop, Drop and Roll may sound like dance routine but in the event of a fire, it may just save your life!

Our number one priority in our Centre are our tamaiti (children). Their safety and wellbeing are most important when it comes to providing quality care.

To help them understand the dangers of a fire and what to do should the alarm sound, we hold a fire drill unannounced every term and revisit our fire safety learning to talk about what we can do to stay safe.

All staff at Aukilani Kids are trained to follow the fire evacuation procedures, and our duties are displayed around our Centre.

Aukilani Kids learning about Fire Safety.

To be fully prepared for our fire drills, here are some of the things we do to prepare our tamaiti should a fire take place:

1. Explain the alarm sounds when there is a fire or smoke detected in our preschool and surrounding areas.

2. Teach them what to do when the alarm sounds and explain why we must leave immediately.

3. Show them who a firefighter is and what their role is. Also explain why they wear the full gear. Sometimes it helps to contact the local station and have them visit the preschool so children are not scared when they see a firefighter during a real emergency.

4. Explain who to follow and listen to, in the event of an emergency if no fire fighters are present. (Fire warden with bright vest on)

5. Teach them to STOP, DROP and ROLL and why this is important. Show them how its done. Practise this many times so children learn to stop, drop and roll automatically. Explain why running away can make fire spread faster. Tell and show them staying close to the ground is best.

6. Show them where to gather after evacuating and to wait for the fire fighters to let them back in.

7. REPEAT ACTIONS OFTEN. It is important to run through the steps of a fire drill often so kids are aware of what to do, this also helps new children who start throughout the term.

When teaching children about safety, we try our best to make it fun, interactive and practical. Demonstrating safe behaviours allow our tamaiti to watch, learn, and build confidence when a fire emergency strikes. Repeating safety rules often and consistently is key!

If you want to know more information about fire safety and how to teach your young tamaiti to stay safe during fire emergencies, click here

Remember to Stop, Drop and Roll if you find yourself aflame.

At home, if you have smoke alarms please check them often and replace batteries regularly. If you don’t have any smoke alarms, please don’t delay and buy today! It may just save your life!

Here are some photos of when the fire fighters arrived at our Aoga and what our tamaiti witnessed. There was no fire to put out, but we definitely enjoyed seeing our brave fire fighters getting ready for action! We are so proud of our fire fighters who work hard everyday.