NHW VIC VICTORIA
Junior NHW Program
Leading Senior Constable Joe Clarke delivering the Junior NHW lesson
The Junior Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) program has been running since 2015. It started at one school as a pilot program to address the issues of apathy in the community regarding home security, road and personal safety. The program aims to get the message out to the community via the students who take new habits home and educate their parents and other adults to change behaviours. The program was developed by Leading Senior Constable Joe Clarke, in conjunction with NHW Mildura Coordinator Helen Worcester. There are more than a dozen schools and regions scattered throughout the Western Region and the program teaches students from Grades 5 and 6. Over 600 students completed the program last year. There are two sessions per term per class on a range of topics – home
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NHWA JOURNAL APRIL 2020
Junior NHW class hats
Property marking to prevent theft
security, road safety, cyber and other bullying plus how to become an effective witness and get better information to police.
of waiting for that session on the calendar, which may be another month or more away.
The presenters take guidance from the school about any current issues within the school and try to put out spot fires before they become bushfires. If there is a particular issue happening at the school, for example bullying, then we’ll change the presentation for the day to be about bullying. That way the issue is addressed immediately, instead
The students are given a Junior NHW folder where they keep a record of topics covered, all class handouts plus the activity sheets that they’ve completed. In the introductory class Leading Senior Constable Joe Clarke stresses the importance of taking the folder home and talking about it so that they’re taking a leadership role within the home. Adults may be
