The ‘City Police at School’ programme is an educational initiative available to all city schools and pupils of all ages. The programme helps pupils work on educational aspects relating to knowledge, bonds and care of those around them, respect for others and better interpersonal relationships, risk prevention in driving and safe mobility, gender violence and the consumption drugs.
Children and young people who need to spend time in hospital and who are temporarily unable to pursue their studies at school can get educational support in hospital classrooms, where they are offered specific activities according to their clinical status and the length of their hospital stay.
The Safety Education Service (SES) operated by the City Police has been collaborating with the teaching teams at these centres for over two years through the ‘City Police at School’ programme. Specifically, the service works with the Escola per a Infants de l’Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, with the Aula Hospitalària del Clínic and, from this year, with the Aula Hospitalària Vall d’Hebron.
As a result of this collaboration, the mounted police unit offered two thirty-minute virtual workshops this morning. The goal was to create a participatory atmosphere to stimulate children in hospital and:
- Present the City Police officer as a local figure.
- Introduce the tasks and functions of officers in the mounted unit.
- Explain the importance of responsible ownership of animals and their welfare.
- Foster respect and commitment as basic values for living alongside others.
Officers from the SES team went to the stables for the mounted unit in C/ Wellington and connected with the hospital online. Two of the officers from the unit, one of them in full dress uniform to make the activity more attractive, offered explanations from different points on the premises.
Students were able to see around the stables, the riding school and the rest of the installations, as well as to meet the horses and see how they are cared for: cleaning materials, horseshoes, food etc.
Arlet, Noa, Araf, Pol and Ayoub, aged between 8 and 10, took part in the primary school workshop. Marwa, Marina, Mar, Ramón and Bruno, aged between 13 and 16, took part in the secondary school workshop.