YOUTH
Juniors go digital Werribee Junior Brigade was one of the first brigades to move their sessions online. They’ve had to cope with limitations such as glitchy internet, distractions from family and not being able to work as a team in the same way. Despite this, the Juniors have continued to engage, and the online sessions have been a hit. “We enjoy doing online learning because we can still see our mates and still do the fundamental learning that can help us in the future when we are firefighters. Online training has actually worked and people are showing up,” said one Werribee youngster. Another enthused that, “CFA online has been better than school work online.” Junior leaders have found that moving sessions online has helped take the Juniors’ minds off all the other things going on, which shows the positive impact brigades are having on young people through the pandemic. “We were asked by the Juniors to train every week, even during the school holidays. Their dedication and enthusiasm have been amazing,” Lisa Bubb from Werribee Junior Brigade said. Werribee’s program draws on a range of resources including interactive learning platforms such as Kahoot, brigade-developed training and juniorsLIVE. Sessions have included dangers on the fireground, wildfire tactics and drip torch operations. They even carried out a radio communications session on Zoom which included pro words and practising radio procedures. “I look forward to preparing and running the sessions each week. Even as a Junior leader I’m still learning new topics and keeping my skills up,” Michael Trifilo from Werribee Junior Brigade said. STORY JEN CLEMENT
Despite not being able to meet in person, Junior leaders across the state adapted by moving their programs online so they could continue to engage young people during the pandemic. While the current situation has presented a range of challenges, Junior brigades around the state have been living the CFA values by being adaptable and working as a team to provide a sense of normality for CFA’s younger members. The creativity and dedication shown by Junior leaders and junior members demonstrates the resilience and dedication that CFA is known for. At the beginning of the pandemic, CFA’s Youth Programs team developed juniorsLIVE, an online program hosted on the CFA youth pages of Members Online. This gave Junior members the opportunity to participate in activities including videos, games and home learning, and explore the five themes of the Junior Volunteer Development Program. Trafalgar Fire Brigade Junior Leaders Haylee Oates and Mark Walshe have been using juniorsLIVE to keep their Juniors engaged during the COVID-19 shutdown and it seems the Juniors are loving it. “It’s been wonderful being able to stay involved with the Juniors program over the past few months, but I’m really looking forward to going back to normal so I can see the other Juniors and socialise while we train,” said Junior Johanna Baker (pictured above). Jett Boothman, a Junior and former captain of the Junior brigade (pictured right) said, “It has been a good experience to still continue learning about CFA with the online training. I’ve enjoyed the learning tasks that were set.”
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