That’s why we’ve spent 30 years developing the SEAT program to raise awareness in young people about how they can stay safe, for life.
Because all volunteer SEAT presenters have a spinal cord injury and use a wheelchair, their role is to
- Teach students the risk factors for spinal cord injury
- Deliver age appropriate safety messages for all grades from Prep to 12
- Cover subjects including
- Road safety
- Water safety
- Peer pressure
- How the spine and spinal cord work
- Disability awareness
- Playing sport safely and
- Making safe choices while out with friends
Our program content fits in with the national curriculum’s Health and Physical Education learning area and comes with free teacher resources.
A community safety program for P to 12
For primary schools
Click on each heading below to read about SEAT’s three multi-media programs tailored for a primary school audience.
Years Prep-3: Play by the rules
The students learn which people and things make environments and activities safe. They are also encouraged to think about and demonstrate how to promote personal safety and the safety of others.
Animated characters Ella and Jack lead the way with entertaining games and activities. The Prep-1 variation of the program includes a game of ‘Simon Says’ that helps to explain the function of the spine and spinal cord. Years 2-3 play a safety-themed word game to reinforce key messages.
Years 4-5: Do the right thing
The Year 4 and 5 students learn how to identify hazardous situations and how to respond to unsafe and emergency situations. They discover how the brain and spine work together; the difference between paraplegia and quadriplegia; and how to stay safe when riding a bicycle or swimming.
A fun, interactive game “Ring the Harm Alarm” also helps to reinforce safety messages.
Year 6: Making smart choices
The upper primary program features videos with real life, high risk scenarios. These scenarios, and the resulting discussions, highlight the dangers of peer pressure and focus on key safety messages about the importance of wearing a helmet, checking the water before jumping in, and wearing seat belts, to name a few.
This program also demonstrates how people with paraplegia or quadriplegia do everyday things. Students watch and discuss videos showing how people who use a wheelchair drive a car, go swimming, exercise and more.
Primary teacher resources can be downloaded here.
For secondary schools
The SEAT program for secondary school audience students covers:
- the anatomy and physiology of the spine
- the effects of a spinal cord injury
- the difference between paraplegia and quadriplegia
- risk factors for spinal cord and other traumatic injuries
- safety messages aimed at preventing spinal cord and other serious injuries
- the lifestyle challenges that people with a spinal cord injury face
- the positive inclusion of people with a disability into the community
Secondary teacher resources can be downloaded here.
Program sponsors
SEAT has joined the Drive to Save Lives! The Department of Transport and Main Roads supports SEAT via a Community Road Safety Grant. Because road trauma is the cause of almost half of all traumatic spinal cord injuries, road safety is an integral part of what we do.
The Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services is a long-time supporter of the SEAT program because they recognise that we raise awareness of disability and help to create the inclusive communities of the future.
The Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) is another long-time and valued sponsor of the SEAT program. In the past, MAIC has also donated funds for vital equipment and to produce Community Service Announcements dedicated to injury prevention.
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