Workplace safety success for Bexhill High pupils

A group of six began out-of-hours study last summer to sit the Key Stage 4 entry level award in Workplace Hazard Awareness, an innovative nationally-recognised qualification that provides youngsters with crucial knowledge of the health and safety hazards they may encounter in the workplace.

They were Jake Willard, Jonathan Paulin, Daniel Miller, Jamie Stretton, Bradleigh Law and Andrew Partridge - all B.Tech Building and Construction students from Years 9/10/11, aged between 14-16.

This week a group of 14 sat the Level 1 exam supervised by course leader Sarah-Jane Bigby whose idea it was to launch the scheme at Bexhill High.

She said: "I asked my Assistant Principal, Steve Cross, about the possibility of taking a small group of mixed ability children and guiding them through the course.

"As a result of this we have rolled the qualification out to more children. We have seen an increase in teamwork and friendship from those taking the course and pupils want to become more involved in activities and the school.

"I outlined the contents of the course to six Year 10 boys and explained what the qualification would mean to them as individuals about to go out into the workforce.

"I told them that every school in the country finishes at approximately the same time and thousands of teenagers are out there looking for work, hence the competition is immense. Having a health and safety qualification already in place would give them a real advantage over the other candidates going for the same jobs."

She felt the youngsters responded to the hands-on nature of the course which involved exercises such as dressing in personal protective equipment and explaining with photos what they were wearing and why.

Some of the work they produced has been used by the British Safety Council in its prospectus for the course, and they are to be featured in the in-house magazine which is sent out to 20,000 companies across the UK.

Principal Mike Conn commented: "We are incredibily proud of these six boys. They were given the chance to take on this qualification, worked hard and achieve excellent results. This qualification is so important to our students as it gives them a real understanding of the dangers of the workplace and the tools to be able to deal with different situations. It makes them realise that health and safety is not just about silly rules - in some cases it is life and death."

A further 50 pupils have now taken the entry level exam and are waiting for results to come through.

Meanwhile Sarah-Jane said the Level 1 course was "brilliant" for those now waiting to see how they did in the exam.

They are Jonathan Paulin, Gavin Corsi, Daniel Miller, Jamie Stretton, Bradleigh and Rhys Law, Jamie Goodwin, Connor McKeown, Dan Oakley, Marcus Coda, Matthew Corney, Tom Bevan, Nicola Everley and Jesse Martin.