Many schools, colleges and universities hold fireworks displays for their pupils, and they can be hugely fun for everyone involved. However, displays in these environments can be challenging to organise, because they present a different set of risks compared to adult-only events.

To organise a safe and fun fireworks display for your students, follow these 10 simple tips:

1. Plan the event with an organising committee. If there is a group of you organising the event, this ensures that there is someone covering every aspect. You can even get parents involved in the planning of the event.
2. Inform the local authorities and emergency services well in advance. It is highly unlikely you’ll need ambulance, police or fire services, but you should inform them of your plans anyway, along with the local council.
3. Always carry out a risk assessment. Even if you hold a display or other event on the same school field every year, make sure you carry out a new risk assessment every time. Things may have changed since last year, and you need to flag up potential problems ahead of time.
4. Use only reputable professionals. From the contractor you use to carry out your risk assessment to the fireworks display organiser, make sure you only use companies with a proven reputation in their field.
5. Buy great quality fireworks. Good quality fireworks will not only look and sound better, but they’ll also be safer and less likely to mis-fire.
6. Divide your site up properly. You’ll need a firing area and drop zone, as well as a spectator area. In between the people and the fireworks, it’s very important to mark out a substantial safety zone.
7. Have a plan in case of bad weather. You can’t predict the weather, but you can prepare for it. You might want to erect a marquee for your spectators or call in fireworks professionals with experience in organising wet weather displays. You’ll also need to know when to call it a day, when the weather is just too bad for the display to go ahead.
8. Provide facilities and refreshments. While you’re focusing on your site and your fireworks, it’s easy to forget about those other details such as toilet facilities and refreshments for your spectators. It could be as simple as a fast food van and a portable loo, but the greater number and better quality of facilities the better.
9. Educate your spectators on safety. A big part of planning a safe event is keeping everyone, spectators included, informed on how to behave around fireworks. Give everyone a few safety pointers ahead of time, either in the form of leaflets, posters or perhaps a quick talk at the start of the display.
10. Carefully monitor every part of your event as it happens. You need a person or team to keep a close eye on your site to make sure there are no young children misusing sparklers or mischievous teens getting too close to the firing area.