North Wexford primary school brings farm safety into the classroom

After a number of farm accidents and tragic fatalities in the north Wexford area, St Patrick's National School, Craanford, located outside Gorey, organised a day to inform themselves about the dangers of farming last month.

"The children of the national school assembled their own farms and went to great effort setting up farm scenes that displayed the many dangers that lead to serious injury or fatalities on farms each year in Ireland," said teacher Marie Kinsella.

They researched current statistics relating to farm accidents that cause injuries and deaths and also outlined the main areas that need to be addressed by farmers each day

One of the main aims of the day was to educate each child in the school about how to stay safe while using quads or ATVs. Many of the children in the class knew people who had been badly injured or killed as a result of using a quad. The class brought in a quad and got all the required safety wear and helmets to set up a display showing the correct gear that’s needed.

The fourth class students invited each class to visit their demonstration and went through the dangers that are threatening the lives of Irish farmers each day

Earlier in the year, the class wrote a letter to Honda headquarters outlining their concerns regarding the absence of roll bars on quads. They received a reply saying that Honda Ireland would forward their concerns to the manufacturing section of Honda.