Last month, Sense College Loughborough held their first ever Health & Safety Week to provide students with an opportunity to learn and practice useful skills for the workplace. Sense College Loughborough has always taught students about staying safe at college and out in the community, in order to support their progression into adulthood. Health & Safety Week was designed to develop these skills further so that they can be applied to the workplace.

Throughout the week, students could explore an interactive hazard room, identifying potential risks and deciding how to make the room safer. They also took part in practice evacuations and had a demonstration with the evac-chairs. Students (and staff) really enjoyed enjoyed a visit from the fire service, learning about the different equipment kept on the fire engine, trying on the firefighters' helmets, and having a go with the firehose! Students on the Vocational Pathway also had the opportunity to learn about employment opportunities within the Health & Safety sector.

Since Health & Safety Week, students feel that they have become more aware of hazards when moving around the college, and have been pointing out trip hazards during break times.

In Physiotherapy sessions the following week, students were able to recall key words and phrases they had learnt during Health & Safety week. In particular, students remembered the phrase 'stay calm, it's just a fire alarm', which was included in a student-made video that was shown during Health & Safety Week.

Students in Media Craft sessions have also been using their new knowledge to create 'Health & Safety Rules' posters that will be displayed around the college. Staff have also noticed students in these sessions reminding each other to push their chairs in, not leave their bags on the floor, and to move slowly around the room when handling equipment.

We're already looking forward to next year's Health & Safety Week, and seeing how much information we can remember from this year!