New children's programs coming soon

Students at Belgrave South Primary enjoy testing out the new lessons

 

CFA's new children's offerings are nearly here.

 

CFA’s children’s education program, Fire Safe Kids (FSK) was developed in 2011. The program includes both classroom lessons and an operational lesson consisting of a truck and fire hose demonstration. Many children across the state have benefited from this volunteer delivered program.

What’s changed?

Since 2011, there have been many developments in the field of education and CFA must address these changes. Classrooms now look very different to those of a decade ago. Children have shorter attention spans and have more electronic devices in their homes and bedrooms.

Houses are consumed by fire far more rapidly than they were 20 years ago, giving children less time to safely exit. Research shows us that children need to be taught fire safety messaging appropriate to their age. For example, teaching 'stop, drop and roll' to young children can cause them to stop and drop when they hear a smoke alarm, instead of exiting. In addition, the latest Victorian curriculum rolls out in 2026.

What is CFA doing to address these changes?

Over the past 18 months, the Community Engagement team has been developing the new programs. Feedback was sought from members, educators, and parents to understand FSK's challenges and successes. Consultative groups with members and staff were created to gain more insights. This feedback as well as the research findings, have led to the creation of three new offerings for children.

What are the three new offerings?

1. Truck Time – a new program based on the operational lesson that will help children learn about CFA firefighters, their trucks and equipment, and allow CFA brigades to connect with their communities.

Truck Time is best delivered at community events, school fetes and fire station open days, but may also take place during school hours, on a separate day to Fire Wise Kids.

2. Fire Wise Kids - the new in-classroom only, CFA member-delivered program. The five new lessons cover the most important aspects of fire safety for children. These lessons are made for age groups from kindergarten to year 4.

3. Online resources - to support schools with limited brigade capacity, CFA are developing lesson plans and activities that teachers can do with their students. These resources will be available to teachers directly via the CFA website. There is also the new Be Firewise video series available now, on the CFA YouTube channel.

What will training look like? When will it be available?

All members are welcome to train in either or both programs.

Truck Time – a 30min eLearning module which will be launched on The Learning Hub in July 2025.

Fire Wise Kids – There will be two parts to becoming an approved Fire Wise Kids presenter.

Part one, is a self-paced eLearning package via The Learning Hub. Part two is a region/district based in-person demonstration session. The eLearning package will be launched in July 2025.

If I’ve already done Fire Safe Kids training, do I still need to undertake the new training?

Yes, if you want to continue delivering CFA programs in schools, you will need to undergo the training as it’s a new program. Consistent training supports all members to deliver Fire Wise Kids as designed. This ensures child safety compliance and learning outcomes are achieved.

Will there be new resources for Fire Wise Kids presenters?

Approved presenters will be provided with a presenter satchel with new posters and materials to support program delivery. Also, new take-home material packs will be available to give students after the delivery of the program.

What is happening to Fire Safe Kids?

CFA will retire Fire Safe Kids at the end of 2025 with the ceasing of all delivery of the program. This will allow time for members to be trained and approved in Fire Wise Kids, ready to deliver in 2026. This also allows time for brigades to liaise with their schools and book in sessions for 2026, as part of their Brigade Community Engagement Planning.

Interested in undertaking Fire Wise Kids training?  Please submit an expression of interest via The Learning Hub now.

 

Submitted by	Siobhan Greene and Elissa Jans