More than 200 Year Six students from local primary schools are now more ‘clued up’ on how to deal with a range of practical and safety issues.

The Clued Up Kids programme, which aims to instil resilience, confidence and new life skills through the practical hands-on application of safety messages, took place at the Wānaka Recreation Centre (WRC) over the past two days.

Event facilitator Janey Rae told the Wānaka App the programme is designed to help the kids prepare for emergencies and develop the ability to handle various ‘what if?’ situations. 

A series of fast-paced sessions with eight different organisations - from Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) to Emergency Management Otago (EMO) and the Coastguard - kept kids engaged.

AF8 taught students about earthquake preparedness.

With St John, students watched a staff member perform CPR on a dummy, learning about the skill before trying it out themselves.

At the session with FENZ, they learned how to ‘get down, get low, get out - fast’ with a fun ‘escape room’ experience that allowed them to practise those skills.

They also learned about earthquake preparation with AF8 and got to try out a simulation machine which mimicked the experience of being in an earthquake.

Janey said the Coastguard session, where the students learned about water safety and got the chance to look around the Coastguard boat, was always a highlight for students. 

The students learned about the fire principles of ‘get down, get low, get out’ and put that into practise by racing through an escape room.

EMO inland team leader Dan Andrew told the Wānaka App Clued Up Kids, which returned to Wānaka this week for the third year in a row, had received great feedback, not just from the students but from schools, parents and facilitators too.

They learned about CPR from St John.

The programme is supported by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) which contributed to operational costs, provided the venue, and had animal control officers on-site providing the students with advice on how to care for pets in an emergency.

“We’re very happy to support Emergency Management Otago (EMO) run these awesome events for tamariki around the district,” QLDC media and channels advisor Sam White said.

A highlight for students was the session with the Coastguard. 

PHOTOS: Wānaka App