Disaster Resilience Education Victoria (DREV) unit success criteria

By the end of this unit students and teachers should:

• know what being disaster resilient means for individuals and communities,
• identify local natural hazards,
• begin to understand key concepts of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery,
• understand how preparation, planning and emergency drills can help people to respond more safely in an emergency, and
• know where to find information and advice to help plan and prepare for floods, storms and bushfires.

What is disaster resilience?

Disaster resilient individuals and communities understand their local hazards. They take action at home and in the community to reduce hazard impacts and prevent hazards from becoming disasters. They follow safety advice and warnings and respond safely during an emergency. After an emergency, they support each other to recover.

Hazards such as storms, floods and bushfires can have enormous social, economic and environmental impacts. With climate change, we are likely to see more frequent and intense hazard events. Building disaster resilient communities has never been more important.

What is disaster resilience education?

Disaster resilience education provides children and young people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to help build resilience in their homes, schools and communities.

Children and young people are frequently overlooked when it comes to disaster resilience, but research shows that if they are provided with the necessary guidance and support, they can increase their own safety and the safety of others.

Will teaching my students about disaster resilience cause them fear or anxiety?

Learning about disaster resilience can actually reduce student fears. However, if you know of a student who has experienced a traumatic event in the past, you should follow necessary procedures to ensure that the welfare of this student is carefully considered.

DREV Victorian Curriculum Links

The five lessons of the DREV unit aligns to the Victorian Curriculum particularly levels 5 to 8 Geography.

Detailed information on the DREV Victorian Curriculum connections.

Helpful resources

• The Country Fire Authority’s Plan & Prepare for Fires provides in-depth information about bushfire planning and preparedness.
• The Country Fire Authority’s Resources for Schools at Risk of Fire provides resources and links for schools and community lead bushfire preparedness.
• The Country Fire Authority’s Fires in the Home provides a range of resources and links for home fire safety and other related fire safety topics.
• If you live or work in a high-risk bushfire area, it’s well worth your time to look at CFA’s Bushfire Safety for Workers online training module.
• The Country Fire Authority’s Fire Ready Kit is an important resource.
• Guidelines for bushfire preparedness of registered schools 
• Schools, kindergartens and child care facilities at the highest risk of fire danger on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).
• Vic Emergency’s Understanding Warnings provides information on what is happening and the best advice on what you should do.
• Victorian State Emergency Service provides information on flood and storm.
• Community Emergency Risk Assessment (CERA) provides Emergency Planning committees with a framework for considering and improving the safety and resilience of their community from hazards and emergencies
• Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub provides statistics and information, photos, video and media about past disaster events.
• Australian Disaster Resilience education for young people provides disaster resilience curriculum mapping.
• The Comprehensive School Safety Framework is an international guide for disaster resilience education, safe learning facilities and school emergency management planning.
• The National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework.
• Australia’s National Strategy for Disaster Resilience.
• Australian Red Cross has a resource on how to talk to children about emergencies.
• Emerging Minds has a Community Trauma Toolkit resource for parents and educators.
• Disaster Risk Reduction terminology. 
• Child friendly version of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
• School Recovery Toolkit