LAST week students from Darlington Primary School took part in the Australian Red Cross Pillowcase workshop, a disaster preparedness program for children.

The workshop has been running for the past ten years and during that time has been taught to more than 100,000 students throughout the country.

The program, inspired by students in New Orleans, who used their pillowcases to carry their belongings while evacuating during Hurricane Katrina, helps children aged eight to 10 years get physically prepared for disasters by packing essential items into a personalised pillowcase.

It also facilitates emotional self-regulation through techniques such as colour breathing to manage thoughts and feelings during a crisis.

The Pillowcase program has a very strong evidence base, and a study published last year in The International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction found it offered children memorable preparedness information that was retained and implemented when the community went onto experience a bushfire.

As the bushfire in 2019 unfolded, caregivers and teachers reported children staying calm and using the skills and techniques they’d been taught including packing their pillowcases as emergency bags, and playing a positive role in helping their family get prepared too.

Darlington Primary School principal Andrew Newhouse said the school held the workshop for Year 3 students to help build resilience.

“Resilience is one of our school values and is developed through our social and emotional program, Friendly Schools.

“Our school is rated extreme when it comes to fire risk, and we do two fire drills per year with the local bushfire brigade, and the Pillowcase program dovetails well with this.

“Students like the activities in the workshop, particularly the drawing on their pillowcase, which is provided by the program, and this helps students remember the workshop,” Mr Newhouse said.

A Red Cross study last year found the lessons children learn in the Pillowcase workshops are not only retained but also implemented when disaster strikes.   

Australian Red Cross executive director Jai O’Toole said the workshops, held in high-risk areas, were a cornerstone of the organisation’s resilience programming.

“Since 2015, we have proudly delivered Australia’s first nationally standardised disaster resilience education program, officially recognised by the federal government. These workshops, run by our dedicated volunteers, are not just about preparedness; they’re about building resilience in the next generation, especially those living in communities prone to natural disasters.

“By strengthening resilience, especially in children, who are among the most vulnerable, we can ensure they feel safe, in control and ready to respond
physically and emotionally for any number of challenging situations they may face,” Mr O’Toole said.   

Antonia Mackay, Australian Red Cross resilience manager and founder of the workshops in Australia, said the study revealed that kids who participated in the workshops were able to apply the preparedness lessons they’d learned when their school community
experienced a bushfire.

“As the bushfire unfolded,
caregivers and teachers reported children staying calm and using the skills and techniques they’d been taught including packing their
pillowcases as emergency bags.

“The findings remind us that although children are vulnerable in an emergency, they can also play a positive role in helping their family prepare and respond if they’re given the right tools ahead of time,” she said.

The Pillowcase workshop is one of several resilience programs run by Australian Red Cross, aimed at helping communities in high-risk locations prepare for disasters.