By Tanya Steele
Students from Ferny Creek Primary School paid a visit to Wattle View Primary with safety foremost in mind but the opportunity also provided a chance for students and staff to connect and collaborate.
Schools followed department policy on Thursday 13 February, relocating for optimal safety on the blustery fire risk day.
On social media, the school thanked Wattle View PS for the visit.
“Thank you to the lovely staff and students at Wattleview PS for having us at their school today,” it read.
“We had 27 of our students hang out there today and many staff members utilised the opportunity to network and share ideas with fellow educators. Well done everyone!”
A Total Fire Ban (TFB) was declared for the North Central, South West and Central regions across Victoria that day, the hot and windy conditions were forecast to see temperatures reach the mid to high 30s statewide before a gusty cooler south-westerly wind change later in the day.
Ferny Creek Primary School is ranked as a level two in the bushfire at-risk register (BARR), which meant on Thursday they were required to relocate for the day.
According to the Department of Education website schools on the department’s BARR who are deemed by assessment to be at the greatest risk of category four, must close on all days forecasted by the Bureau of Meteorology to be Catastrophic FDR in their fire weather district.
In Victoria, all schools and early childhood services in Victoria are reviewed using a fire risk methodology developed by the CSIRO.
The method breaks down risk using a number of bushfire and fire risk tools along with the site’s terrain, fuel and vegetation type.
Schools and early childhood services listed on the BARR are rated according to their level of bushfire risk, as either Category 0, 1, 2 or 3, with Category 0 having the highest bushfire risk profile.
The fire risk categories are reviewed and confirmed annually and is available on the state government website.
As summer continues after a welcome cool change in the last few days, residents should keep up to date with announcements from emergency services.
