The Mix hosts seventh annual Crucial Crew event for Primary School students
The Mix recently hosted 1,000 Year 6 students (ages 10 and 11) from 42 local primary schools across Suffolk for its annual Crucial Crew event focused on personal health and safety.
Held from 17-25 June 2024, the personal health and safety event featured interactive workshops delivered by local emergency services, including Suffolk Fire and Rescue, Suffolk Police, School Nurses, Turning Point, British Army Welfare, First Aid in Education, and The Mix’s youth work team.
These workshops covered topics ranging from online safety and healthy friendships to awareness regarding their sugar intake.
For seven years, Crucial Crew has been dedicated to helping students transition from primary to secondary school by educating them on various aspects of personal health and safety.
Event Highlights:
• Turning Point: The team addressed the dangers and risks of drugs and alcohol, educating students on the impact these can have on their bodies and lives.
• School Nurses: Sessions focused on managing worries. Using a creative exercise with parcels representing worries, students learned how overwhelming concerns can affect their daily tasks and were taught breathing techniques for mindfulness and well-being.
• The Mix Youth Workers: An engaging session on healthy friendships covered how to be a good friend, recognise the signs of a bad friend, and understand the difference between banter and bullying.
• Suffolk Police: They presented crucial information on online safety, emphasising the importance of not trusting unknown individuals online and understanding consent related to sharing images. Their lively sessions often include music and dancing.
• First Aid in Education: Lucy delivered a new session on CPR, utilising a British Heart Foundation video and hands-on practice with dummies to teach students how to respond if someone is unconscious.
• Army Welfare: Their session on sugar intake educated students on the importance of a balanced diet and tips for maintaining healthy sugar levels.
• Suffolk Fire and Rescue: Real firefighters brought their fire pod to simulate real-life scenarios, teaching students how to identify household dangers and respond in case of a fire.
The Mix's Crucial Crew event continues to be a pivotal experience for young students, equipping them with essential knowledge and skills for their personal health and safety as they prepare for the next stage of their education.
Laura Saville, Crucial Crew coordinator and part of front of house team, said; “Crucial Crew 2024 was a huge success. The young people were so engaged with each session.
“Over the seven days we delivered over 30 hours of youth work and 686 sessions to local primary schools. Close to 1,000 young people were able to learn about personal health and safety in a new and engaging environment. The community links with real local emergency services are so beneficial to the young people, and the providers spoke so passionately that it made it fun.”
Some quotes from teachers that attended with their students:
“We really appreciate that these essential messages are delivered in ways that are fun and memorable, but also by people who are outside of school and can keep them safe too. So important to have those community links to services the children can go to if they need help or support in the future.”
“Really grateful for such a great experience for our children.”
“We had a fantastic time and the children gained so much.”
