Learners from Laerskool Protearif arrived at school on Wednesday, 12 February, thinking it would be just another school day. It turned out to be show-and-tell of a different type.
Just before 9am the horn sounded for the children to do an emergency drill, and once everyone was seated on the pavilion, the fun started.
Approximately 20 vehicles with lights and sirens drove onto the field. Members of the Mogale Response Services visited the school to talk to the children about safety.
The Mogale Response Services consist of the Krugersdorp Police; the West Rand Flying Squad; West Rand District Municipality Community Safety; West Rand District Municipality Fire and Rescue; the Mounted Police unit, Netcare emergency services, Emer-G-Med, Disaster Management, Dowry, Apcan, West Rand K9 unit, Netcare 911, Mogale City Public Safety, EPR and local Community Policing Forum members.
The children were addressed by representatives of the different departments of the West Rand Emergency Services.
Sergeant Fritz Tereblanche from the Krugersdorp Police was first, and he reminded the learners what number they should call in an emergency.
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Then the children got to see what happened to a criminal when one of the K9 Unit’s dogs caught him.
A visit from Torpedo and Shatipe, two of the Mounted Police horses, had the children shouting with excitement – especially when they started galloping. While the horses enjoyed the green grass and loving cuddles from the preschool learners, the rest of the school learned why they should wear helmets when riding on their bicycles.
Jeany Blignaut from Netcare carefully explained this by using two eggs, one with a helmet and one without.
The best, however, was saved for last when the Working on Fire and West Rand Firefighters taught the children a song they should remember if their clothes ever caught fire. Then everyone practised the stop, drop and roll method, and were rolling all over the field.
One of the Grade 7 boys was called to the front and dressed as a firefighter. With the help of one of the toughest firefighters, Samson Mokemane, he got to spray the other learners, the teachers as well as some of the emergency personnel with water.
