Police Officers visit to St Mary’s

On Monday, we were delighted to welcome two local police officers to St Mary’s for our Monday Daily Worship assembly! One of the purposes for their visit was that we want to give our pupils the opportunity to find out more about different jobs/professions (a key part of our School Development Plan), so that when our pupils grow up into adulthood they are able to make more informed choices about which professions they choose for themselves. Another reason for their visit, was to support two of our school values: Respect and Trust - we want all pupils to understand the different roles and activities that police officers have to fulfil each week, whilst on duty.

Police Constable Jasmine Thorndyke and Police Constable Conor Fields, both based at Saffron Walden Police Station, gave an interesting and informed discussion to the children about the different types of police officer and how half of their job is to catch bad people and the other half is to keep people safe – which they said that people often forget! They talked about how they often have to respond to emergencies, take finger prints, attend ceremonies with colleagues as well as the different types of offences that criminals can commit! The children proved themselves to be very knowledgeable in many of these areas – including knowing the colour of a Taser (!), what to do if a police dog is running near you, and identifying some of the kit worn by both officers. The pupils very much enjoyed the demonstration of PC Fields being hand-cuffed by PS Thorndyke (and how to do this effectively and safely) as well as a demonstration of their police radio/telephone devices (with attached earpieces), body-worn cameras and other equipment. A number of pupils were also chosen to come up to the front to wear some of their different police helmets/hats – which included one which would be worn by a PCSO – and how to identify this. The police officers also discussed the emergency number to call (999) as well as what to do if you are every lost and you cannot find your mum or dad. Again, the children gave some excellent answers to some of the questions asked by the officers.

We would like to thank a HUGE thank you to PC Thorndyke and PC Fields for taking the time to visit the school and tell us more about the incredibly important job that they do. If there are any parents, carers and friends of the school out there in our school community who are feeling brave and would be interested in coming to talk to our children about their own profession in a Daily Worship assembly, please do contact the school and we will discuss this with you and get you to come in for a talk with our lovely pupils!