Junior and Safer Citizen schemes

The Junior Citizen Scheme is a partnership initiative aimed at giving young children the skills to deal with a wide range of emergency situations, and to enable them to make a valued contribution to their local community through good citizenship.

The approach of the programme is to provide the children with realistic life experiences through scenarios that cover a wide range of issues, encouraging them to think through problems they are confronted with and resolve them successfully.

The scheme is aimed at Year 5 (9-10 year old) children and runs twice a year in the spring and summer terms. It is very popular with schools and pupils. Running since 1987, the programme is run by council, Police, Health Authority and Fire Service staff. It also has regular input from hard working, committed volunteers and work experience placements.

Pupils receive a pack that includes an activity booklet which reinforces the messages they have been taught in each scenario. The children also take home a leaflet for their parent or carer about the programme.

The teachers pack outlines a range of ideas and projects the teachers can use to extend their knowledge and reinforce the key messages in the classroom during the Year 6 preparation for starting secondary school.