Families in the North of England looking to home school children during lockdown can learn about gas safety with a new website full of fun activities and interactive information.
Featuring Safety Seymour, a superhero bear who has been teaching pupils in classrooms for the last four years, the new website at www.safetyseymour.co.uk uses storytelling, cartoons, classroom-style activities and even yoga and origami to alert families to the danger of deadly carbon monoxide in the home.
The website has been launched jointly by Northern Gas Networks, the North of England’s gas distributor, and the country’s other gas distribution networks, which together operate and maintain the UK’s underground gas pipes, keeping the gas supply flowing during the Covid 19 lockdown.
Known as the silent killer, carbon monoxide can be produced from any carbon-based fuel, which could mean that faulty or badly maintained gas boilers, cookers and fires could produce harmful amounts of the gas. It can’t be seen, smelt or tasted but it kills some 40 people a year and leaves many more with life-changing injuries.
Tom Bell, the Head of Social Strategy for Northern Gas Networks, said:
“With people spending much more time at home, gas safety is more important than ever. We’ve come together with the other gas networks to bring a set of resources into homes across the UK during these exceptional times.
“Gas safety is such an important life lesson and we’ve learnt through our classroom-based sessions, which have been running since 2016, how well children respond to the interactive way in which it’s taught, with Safety Seymour himself engaging youngsters.
“These new materials provide an essential resource for educators and parents alike so that young children can learn about gas safety at home in an exciting way.
“We are proud to partner with the other UK gas networks to develop these Safety Seymour resources to make sure children can keep their learning going at this challenging time.”
The Safety Seymour programme is aimed at Key Stage 1 pupils and features games, drama and craft to help them and their families stay safe from the dangers of carbon monoxide in their homes.
Previously delivered in schools, the programme has been specifically developed for online use as people of all ages across the UK, and world, adapt to working and learning from home. The materials have been developed with input from teachers.
Last autumn, Northern Gas Networks ran an art competition with school children nationwide, giving them the challenge to create a carbon monoxide ‘villain’ that illustrated the dangers of carbon monoxide. The competition inspired nearly 550 entries, with drawings sent in from children living as far apart as Devon and Aberdeen.
The Key Stage 1 teacher at one school in Whitley Bay, where a Safety Seymour session was given to pupils before the lockdown started, said: “The children love Safety Seymour. He is a really good way to engage the children in learning about the dangers of carbon monoxide. The information is presented in a very child-friendly way and they were all so excited for the session and enthusiastic about creating their own representations of what carbon monoxide might look like.”
