WIREDGOV

Equipping children with the skills to “learn about safety by experiencing risk” will be the focus of the LASER Alliance Annual Conference next month.  

“LASER Hands On” will be held at DangerPoint interactive education centre in Talacre, north Wales, on Thursday, February 21, 10am-3pm, where the importance of high quality practical safety education (HQPSE) will be discussed. HQPSE seeks to deepen children’s knowledge and understanding of risk competence and to develop skills appropriate to their age. 

The LASER Alliance, hosted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and sponsored by the Gas Safety Trust, brings together a range of UK-based organisations and individuals that believe in children and young people “learning about safety by experiencing risk” (from where the acronym “LASER” is drawn).  

Errol Taylor, RoSPA’s deputy chief executive, will speak on public health and HQPSE, and there will be further presentations by Konflux Theatre and children from Middlewich High School in Cheshire; Julie Evans, centre manager at DangerPoint; and Marcus Bailie, head of inspection at Adventure Activities Licensing Service.  

Workshops will also run to open up discussion on HQPSE with older people, young workers and college students; working with children and adults with disabilities; and using an online evaluation tool (E-Valu-It) to plan, do and review practical safety education. Young people from Salford Foundation will present a project they have been working on which aims to deliver safety messages to older people in their community.  

Cassius Francis, LASER Alliance co-ordinator and RoSPA’s youth liaison worker, said: “The LASER Alliance Annual Conference is an opportunity for members and non-members to come together to share best practice on helping people learn how to make responsible decisions about safety and risk.  

“Providing the perfect backdrop to this event will be DangerPoint - which teaches children how to safely manage risks - and the day will aim to demonstrate the important work that the Alliance does nationally.”  

The Alliance has a network of regional champions based across the UK who promote the Ten Principles of Effective Safety Education, which underpin the Alliance’s definition of HQPSE, and contribute to LASER Alliance’s policymaking process.  

Organisations working with children and young people that are interested in joining the LASER Alliance should phone Cassius Francis on 0121 248 2025 or email cfrancis@rospa.com. More information is available on the LASER Alliance website - www.lasersafety.org.uk.