Leaving School For calls

[Footy]

i always laugh when my pager goes off for that one, because it is my school, so i have to leave school, jump on a truck and then respond back to school.

ohh, and they never evacuate when the alarms go off, which is annoying

would have thought your education may be more important than CFS... do you leave school for any call?

If your interested there is a thread set up on peoples professions and how easy it is for people to attend calls from their jobs. I'm a primary school teacher, and I know that if there is enough staff to cover my class I can respond, my Principal figures that we are a part of the community so need to give something back when we can...
(plus I think he lives in my response area, lol  )

[RescueHazmat]

Being a teacher who is leaving for calls who has already "learnt" is a little different to a student who is "learning" .. - Never left school for a call when I was younger.


Just my opinion.

[Footy]

yeah i fully agree,
i read the post as meaning he was a teacher leaving school,
but i can see now how it could also be a student leaving (and it more than likely is)

[mack]

i believe he is a 17 yo student.... which was the point of my post.

[probie_boy]

i believe he is a 17 yo student.... which was the point of my post.

I agree. granted, my school (urrbrae) was too far from home or the station to respond, but even if it was closer i still wouldn't. try explaining that to ssabsa as a reason for your grades slipping. "oh, yeah i had to go attend an alarm call at a fish and chip shop"

[Kenny]

slack. just do more homework!

Nah i agree, school time is vital. Personally, i find uni a bit more relaxed and less pressured than school, and the layout is a bit different for making up missed work so its a bit easier to attend a call from uni.

[Morgan]

I believe you can actually count CFS activities as part of year 11 now (or a few other organisations)as part of a subject called "community studies".

[Kenny]

it was possible under community studies, but that subject was such a bludge, you could do almost anything to pass it.

With the new sace thats coming in for students, it will be possible for additional sace points.

now, as its been mentioned, back to the amusing messages:)

[Pixie]

just to clear thing up, so that this post can get back to ammusing pager msg's...

yes, i leave school for almost any call, depends if we have crew for the day or not... during tests i will not respond unless it is absolutly nessecary, ie. second page, i have spoken to all of my teachers and the yr 12 co-ordinatior about it and they are fine with it.

NOW. Bck to the pager messages!

[RescueHazmat]

Moderators / Admin - Can we sub branch (make a new) thread re: leaving school for incidents.. I wouldnt mind discussing it further and hearing peoples points of views.. See it as a good 'debatable' topic.. (Possibly moving the 5 or so posts out of this thread into it..)??

[RescueHazmat]

Ah, thanks admins.. That was quick !


- Now, my point / post isn't to personally attack anyone that has already said they do this.  At the end of the day its your life, and it is up to you to make the choices that control it.. However, my 'personal' opinion and if it were my kids, I would not let them leave school for incidents.

But im more interested to hear what others opinoins are, and find out if it is a fairly common practice? .. Are there younger members of this board that are in school? Do they leave for calls? Would they? How do they feel about it?

- I base my view on the fact I believe your Education is more important.. - CFS will always be there, and appliances from other brigades can be sent even if there is an extra crew page.. - I don't think leaving school is the right thing to be doing.. - Particularly as members are only old enough to leave during the later years (Years 11 and 12) - Which I believe are the most crucial in a senior school environment.

Uni is another matter.. As adults, one knows their responsibility to their own education.. I may sound hypocritical but I think it takes one to have gone through / know the system to understand how different it is to high school.

-So, what are others opinions when it comes to this manner.. - I would be particularly interested to hear from parents on the board who have children in the CFS who are still attending senior school.

And like always, im always open to acknowledge others opinions and be influenced by ones arguments.. But at this stage i'm against allowing school kids to attend CFS calls.

[Pipster]

When I was doing Yr 12, I would occasionally miss some of school, due to fire calls...usually when it was an early morning call, I went, and then ended up late for school - my school were happy with the arrangement, as were my parents.

I generally didn't leave school in the middle of the day, as the appliance had already gone long before I could get there, but I did miss a bit of school here & there.

When I went to Uni, I did CFS, and took on Ambulance duties as well - (nothing like doing an 1800-0600 shift on a Sunday night, and then turning up to Uni for 8 lectures in a row the next morning!)  I only missed a few lectures due to Ambulance, and CFS duties.

Oh yeah, I passed both Yr 12, and completed my degree!!

As for whether or not people should leave School / Uni to attend CFS calls,  one thing I find in my paid job, is how naive many of the kids now days are, in relation to what happens out in the real world.... leaving school / uni on an occasional basis might actually be good, as it exposes some of these kids to the "outside world" - as long as it doesn't happen all the time, and the School / Uni work doesn't suffer, what is wrong with it?

And these days, the trend is towards kids being exposed to a bit more of the real world, before being launched from school.....so being part of the CFS, and having an opportunity to be part of something that allows kids to develop skills, mature, learn to take some responsibility, and be good for the community, can't be a bad thing in my books!

Pip

 

[bittenyakka]

During my year 12 (last year) I wouldn't have left school for calls mainly because i couldn't get home but also i considered school more important. Yes it is your choice and that is understandable but watch your grades and remember that your brigade is a team who is more that likely willing to support your studies.
and from experience pleas don't leave school for calls in terms 3&4 you need every second you can get there.

[bajdas]

I live in the Seaford area. Some of my kids friends from Aldinga and Willunga carry pagers for the CFS.

It depends on the kids attitude.

I have heard of school year level co-ordinators / advisors contacting parents to ensure the absence was an actual callout. Other kids they had no issues with because the child caught up the work. But I understand that the school co-ordinators need to ensure they are not liable for truancy.

They are also responsible for the child being on school grounds or have permission from the care giver for the child to leave school grounds.

Do parents / care givers sign a form allowing their child to respond to incidents for that year and thus imdemnifying the school  ?

What happens if the child responds and a CFS accident occurs which involves the child ? If the parent did not know they were leaving school premises, I would hate to be in the middle of the argument between CFS Brigade & the school.

Interesting that with SES cadets cannot respond to incidents until 18 years old...

PS. Correct me if my statements are wrong above, but that is my feeling as a parent...

[JC]

If you are doing it occasionally(once every couple of weeks)thats ok, but if your leaving school every couple of days for jobs then it has to be affecting your schooling. It also may depend on if you have a good understanding with your teachers that enables you are able to catch up 1 on 1 or with homework.

[RescueHazmat]

If you are doing it occasionally(once every couple of weeks)thats ok, but if your leaving school every couple of days for jobs then it has to be affecting your schooling. It also may depend on if you have a good understanding with your teachers that enables you are able to catch up 1 on 1 or with homework.

Yeah, it is your first statement which brought my question.. The leaving for every call.. If a child in school is leaving regularly, and their brigade has a high call rate, that is alot of time away from school..

I also see issues with the leaving school grounds, particualry without parental permission.. - What would happen if the child was injured/killed in a car accident while attending to the station when they were meant to be in school?

Some good points and opinions coming out, and its interesting to hear others points of view..   

[uniden]

When I turned 16 and was able to ride the appliances, I was required to provide a note signed by a parent giving me permission to leave school for callouts. I then had to have this signed off by the principal and show it to all of my teachers so that they were aware. Same thing applied to the other 4 or 5 guys at the same school that left for incidents.

[Mike]

I also went to Urrbrae back in the day... That, and it was in the day we had tone only pages (tiggered from base radio) so i didnt know there was a callout anyway.

Back then our brigade said thou shall not leave school for a callout. The out was if it was deemed a major incident - someone could contact the school and request attendance, and a letter was given after to verify it was a callout. A few position changes have happened since then and the rules seem to have become much more relaxed

School should come first though...

[Darius]

certainly seems to be much more relaxed now that's for sure!  we weren't allowed to leave school grounds until the final bell under any circumstances, unless it was a family emergency and your parent(s) cleared it with the principal and came and picked you up.

I don't see how you (as a schoolkid) would respond in time anyway unless your school was next door to the station.  Uni students are a different kettle of fish, you are supposed to be responsible for yourself by then.  At school you are still a "child" (despite what 15,16,17 year olds may think).

[Pixie]

my school is about 300m away from the station, so i am always first there...

dont get me wrong, school still places higher in my priorities than cfs, but when it is something that can be caught up on easliy, cfs comes 1st...

i have found that half the stuff in year 12 (especially physics and maths) is just repitition!

[mack]

[qu

[ltdan]

When I was at Mannum High School and if you are aware where the school is to the fire station it is not far (2 minute walk).

When I was at school their was an agreement at school that if a fire call occurred and if it was OK for the teacher which you may had been with in class to go you were allowed to go.

If was not very often that I was not disallowed to go to a call out, maybe if I had a test or something similar.

Times and attitudes are different from region to region and you see that the school in a country community is part of the community just the same as the fire station the netball club etc etc.

Therefore the aim was for students to gain the best education and assist and help their community to the best of their ability. 

When I finished school and was still in the mannum brigade other students were also in the brigade and also used the same policy which at the time was created by The brigade, group, region and school.

Ultimately it is the student/firefighters decision, I would not see a student joining CFS just to get out of school, I would hope.  But a student/firefighter who wants to be a integral part of the community.

To my understanding that this agreement/policy is still current with the brigade and school.

[Blue]

I believe you can actually count CFS activities as part of year 11 now (or a few other organisations)as part of a subject called "community studies".

True, you can do some of your BFF1 modules as part of your SACE. We also take students doing Conservation and Land Management modules in the same way, that counts toward their schooling. This is different to leaving school for calls though I guess.

I agree with Uniden's approach. Parents permission, school is aware, everyone happy. Then the onus is on the student to find out the information they missed out on during the call.

[TillerMan]

Your way too cool for school so you go to a call.... 

[mattthefirey]

i had an understanding from my school when i attended 2 years ago to come late if i went to a job in the morning but was never allowed to leave school for a job which was fair enough. when i completed my bff1 i was able to get this course credited towards my sace i got three sace points for this course which is the equivalent of three subjects. i recommend any students that are still at school to try and obtain rpl for bff1 talk to your year level co-ordinater or the person in charge of VET training