Haydonleigh pupils are Wiltshire's top good citizens

The Year Six group came first in the county in the annual Junior Good Citizen scheme, and were rewarded with a trophy and certificate.
Junior Good Citizen is described by organisers as a multi-agency event aimed at equipping young people with the life skills and knowledge to cope in an emergency or a potentially dangerous situation, which could result in them becoming victims of crime and/or sustaining personal injuries. 

The children interact with a number of simulated life-like scenarios, raising their awareness of the contribution they can make in preventing crime and increasing their own safety.  

The emphasis is on interaction and children are encouraged to deal with a variety of safety problems such as fire, road safety, anti-social behaviour, home safety and weapons awareness. 

Police and Crime Commissioner Mr Wilkinson said: "A lot of my job can be quite grim, but coming to something like this and presenting a prize to the school and seeing all of those proud and happy little faces makes me feel better.

"You get a positive energy from engaging with young people like that. It's set me up for the day, really!"
He added: "The fact that this year and last year we had over 30 schools participating in this scheme across the county - that's a serious number and it shows how engaged our school teachers and our schools are in what is clearly a very productive and positive scheme."

The Haydonleigh Year Sixes came top by a substantial margin, and proud teacher Sam English said: "This year there were 34 schools and we came out as number one.

"We had a convincing average points total over second place, so our children did extremely well.

"There were a number of different stations that the children learned, to do with keeping themselves safe and how to be a good citizen, how to look after themselves but also how to look after others and loom after their community.

"They were awarded points for their engagement, for their answering of questions, for their knowledge and for their teamwork."

Headteacher Frances Billinge also spoke of her pride, and added: "It's nice to have something that validates. We know the children are good citizens and they do follow the rules at school, but to have it validated is really good."

 

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