L.I. We are learning to prepare for an emergency

• I understand the difference between needs and wants
• I can create a visual of a disaster pack and explain why I have chosen specific items

As part of our IDL topic on Natural Disasters, we learned about Earthquake Preparedness and how this is taught to children and families who live in areas which experience frequent earthquakes, such as Japan and the West coast of America. After watching a couple of drills, P5 were very keen to try it out for themselves. We discussed the need for a designated marshal, whose job it is to organise everyone if there is no adult available. We learned about Drop, Cover and Hold which is a way of protecting ourselves from falling debris – after that, all we had to do was carry on with our morning and wait for the siren! It came as a big surprise to everyone but we managed to take cover quickly and then get to a safe place.

We have also been discussing the things we would include in a disaster pack – essential things we would take with us if we had to be evacuated. It was a difficult decision as we had to really think hard about the difference between needs and wants – we found that we would have to leave many of our favourite things behind and take only the things we really need to keep us warm, clean, fed and watered.

Hopefully we will never be involved in a natural disaster, but if we are we will be prepared!