SkillZONE is running a special week for rural schools from January 15th to January 22nd 2014 in a bid to extend the reach of its safety lessons to schools which are further afield.

The week has been organised at the Gloucester safety education centre to teach specific messages to rural communities about staying safe and to give these schools the chance to experience SkillZONE.

SkillZONE’s whole ethos is to teach children and young people to stay safe by letting young people experience danger in realistic situations from a dark alleyway to an internet cafe or travelling to school.

 SkillZONE Manager, Donna Potts, says; “Rural schools are by nature more isolated. We believe gaining the experience of learning from our scenarios is particularly important because rural residents can sometimes feel more vulnerable in an emergency and these sessions may give them more confidence.”

“We recognise that many schools on the outer reaches of the county have not been to SkillZONE and we wanted to invite them to see what we have to offer.”  

The bespoke tour will cover road safety lessons for rural residents such as being seen while walking or cycling, preparing for bad weather conditions, considering what to do if a bus is cancelled or road is closed and the importance of closing gates on farms.

The home and fire safety scenarios will also cover tips and advice for rural communities. The schools visiting have then chosen five other areas in the village from the internet cafe, water safety, internet cafe, shop, farm, builders’ yard, train platform, police station and court room.

12 schools are taking part in the week and schools were invited from the Cotswolds, Forest of Dean and Stroud along with the outer areas of Cheltenham and Gloucester.