Road Safety Education

We believe that good road safety skills are vital to all road users. We therefore aim to have a holistic approach including different road safety interventions for different audiences.

Road Safety Education for Children

At the Royal Borough we feel it is important that children have access to road safety education materials. Please navigate the page below to find out what road safety education is on offer within the borough.

Taking the ‘First Steps’ -A Guide for Parents of Under Fives

Keep reading for information on:

Carrying your children in the car safely

Helping your child to stay safe when crossing the roads

Practising road safety together

At this age the responsibility for safety and safety education of children lies with their parents/carers. Children under five years of age cannot be responsible for their own safety – please ensure that each time they venture out onto the road they are accompanied by an adult.

Parents/carers are encouraged to provide practical opportunities for developing and establishing good safe habits in their children by:

Setting good examples e.g. wearing seatbelts and crossing the road properly
Talking about road safety to develop an understanding when out walking
Talking the child through what is happening each time you cross the road together
Ensure that road safety messages you send are consistent

For a copy of our parents advice pack please use the our contact form.

Safety in the car

Many children are killed or injured in the UK as passengers in car accidents as they have not been correctly fastened in using a child seat or seatbelt.

Remember under fives should be strapped into a suitable child seat that must be securely fitted into the car.

There are many types of child seats available, however, not all seats fit properly in all cars.

You should choose a seat according to your child’s height and weight.

There are retailers whom will help you select the correct seat for your car. Image of child seat leaflet

Alternatively contact the Road Safety Team for advice.

For a copy of the Department for Transports Guide to child seats, again use the contact form leaving your name and contact details.

Pre School and Foundation stages

There is an important need for training in the Early Years Environment as young children learn good habits from an early age.The Road Safety Team are able to support Early Years Practitioners to intergrate road safety into the Early Years curriculm, and to provide relevant resources.

We would recommend that those working in the Early Years Sector should make contact with us for further infomation as to what support is available.

The key messages for this age group are:

Holding hands
Stopping
Looking and listening
Crossing safely

Look out for activities on this page soon.

Also available are items for loan from our Early years resource bank – these include role play equipment, imitation crossings, games, puzzles and books.

Book now for a visit from ‘Spike’ the road safety mascot to your centre. Spike is a fun way to convey road safety messages to help young road users.

Key Stage One

New for 2008 the Boroughs Road Safety Team is happy to launch the ‘First Steps’ child pedestrain skills training scheme. The scheme provides practical opportunities for children in Key Stage One to practice crossing the road safely under the supervision of an adult. first steps logo

As part of the First Steps programme children will practice how to find a safer place to cross the road, to cross near parked cars, and to cross near junctions under the supervision of adult instructors.

The First Steps scheme is available to all schools within the Royal Borough. To ensure your school can participate from September 2008 please make contact with the Road Safety Team. Please note that availability is now limited.
We also recommend that schools make use of road safety resources and incorporate the subject into lesson time, especially those schools that are working towards a travel plan.
For advice on how we can support you to intergrate road safety please use the contact form to request a visit from the road safety officer.We also suggest that schools make use of some of the excellent government road safety resources which exist.See the official ‘Hedgehogs’ website and ‘Arrive Alive’ website for younger children. We also really like the ‘Get Across Road Safety’ resources.
Key Stage Two Speed awareness sessions (Years 4-6) Many children in Key Stage two underestimate the speeds of cars travelling around the school area.Using speed detection equipment pupils will conduct a speed survey at the roadside in small groups, under the supervision of an adult. The Road Safety Officer will attend this activity, however, another member of school staff will be required to ensure child to adult ratios can be adhered to. All necessary risk assessments will be completed prior to the training session All pupils will be allowed to use the speed equipment and to contribute to the data gathering The results of the speed/seatbelt/mobile phone survey can then be interpreted back in the classroom It is recommended that the results are displayed somewhere within the school so that parents have the opportunity to see the work undertaken by the pupils The Road Safety Officer may ask other suitably CRB cleared adults for example Community Wardens or Community Police Support Officers if they can support this activity with staff attendance at the session. By asking school pupils to design a slow down/seatbelt/mobile phone poster, which in turn may be used in future advertising campaigns, can extend the activity and create cross curricular links. We may display samples on our road safety web page – watch this space! To request further information or to take part in the scheme please contact the Road Safety Team. Junior Road Safety Officers (Years 5-6) This scheme is popular with Year Five and Six pupils. Pupils are nominated to become the road safety representatives for your school and will co-ordinate competitions, a notice board, and annual campaigns for road safety. They will be given guidance by the road safety officer, whom, will arrange to meet with them (at the school) to help plan road safety activities. Junior Road Safety Officers will receive a pack to help them to undertake their duties and will have the opportunity to contribute to the road safety web page. To bring the Junior Road Safety Officer Scheme to your school contact the road safety team. Mapping of the local area to identify road safety hazards on routes to school Road Rangers Scheme (Years 5-6) New for 2008 at the Royal Borough We are now looking for schools to participate in the new Road Rangers Scheme. School will be provided with a large A0 map of the local are surrounding their school. On this map children/ Road Rangers will be asked to find and identify road safety hazards that they encounter on their journey to school. The map is a class activity and will appeal to different learning styles. Through the use of art equipment the map will be populated with imitation houses, shops, pedestrian crossings and children will be asked to develop their ideas of why certain areas are identified as dangerous/hazardous. (A sample map will be provided so that children can visualise what the finished map could look like) Schools will be allowed to present the map in any format such as through use of paint, crayon, photos etc Cut out road signs, traffic lights, paints and equipment will be supplied to the school so that the class teacher can manage the road safety activity. Ideas generated will be collectively presented and then we would welcome suggestions from the children as to how they think the area could be improved and ‘made safer’in theory The Road Safety Officer is available to sit down and discuss with the children their thoughts and to help develop ideas on safer travel to school A road safety engineer will be asked to take a look at the suggestions and to feed back to the Road Rangers on their ideas The Road Safety Officer will also offer advice on how to minimise the danger when crossing at identified hazardous places around the school. It is hoped the artwork could be displayed at an ‘exhibition’ and that pupils could discuss hazardous places with parents/peers/staff etc The activity can be extended by the use of walking trails – the pupils can take organised walks around the area to identify hazards. This of course depends on available staff numbers whom can supervise. Contact your Road Safety Officer for advice. Cycle Training ( Years 5-6) Cycle Training has historically been an actvity for pupils in Year Five and Year Six. See the Cycle Training pages for further information. Junior Citizen (Year 6) East Berkshire Junior Citizen is an experiential learning opportunity for Year 6 pupils from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough Borough and Bracknell Forest. Many organisations work together to create an interesting and dynamic environment for our local school children to learn about issues that affect them and how to stay safe within modern society. All activities are “hands on” and are a short burst of information designed to teach basic skills and form the foundations for further development and knowledge at school and at home. For further information follow the link to the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue web page. Please note this link is to an external web page.
Key Stage Three & Four Key Stage Three More independence means that young people will have to take responsibility and be able to make decisions. Therefore, Key stage three road safety activites are directed at ensuring students have an awareness of the road safety dangers they may encounter on their journeys to and from school. For infomation on planning safer school journeys, using public transport , safer cycling and in car safety please contact the Road Safety Officer. The Road Safety Team is keen to enable teachers to fit road safety into other lessons For ideas and resources for embedding road safety into the school curriculm please use our contact form. Preparing to learn to drive As pupils reach the end of Key Stage Three, we are aware that many will be looking forward to learning to drive and becoming independant road users. In preperation we have devised a series of workshops designed to enlighten young people of the responsibilities and costs of becoming a driver. To register an interest in running the workshop sessions at your school or youth club please contact the Road Safety Officer. Key Stage Four Is Road Safety an issue amongst young drivers at your sixth form? If so Safe Drive Stay Alive may be the performance for you. Safe Drive Stay Alive is a theatre project, which explores the circumstances and consequences of a road traffic collision. We would like to invite the pupils from Key Stage Four at Royal Borough schools and Colleges to attend a performance on one of the dates below 4th – 5th November 2008 The Kings Centre Oxford 6th – 7th November 2008 The Hexagon Reading 10th – 11th November 2008 The Swan Theatre High Wycombe 12th – 13th November 2008 MK Dons Football Stadium The costs of student transport to the venue will be reimbursed by The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council Road Safety Section. Further information can be found using the following link to the Safe Drive Home Page. Please note the Safe Drive Home page is an external link. You can contact the Road Safety Team directly for further information Road Safety and the National Curriculm We have a variety of resources that can be loaned which will enable teachers to embed road safety into the national curriculm. Our Road safety Officer is available to discuss the options available to you. Please use the contact form for further information. Road Safety Volunteering Opportunities The Royal Borough runs a variety of road safety schemes most of which require volunteers to assist. Volunteering is a good way for Key Stage Four pupils to gain valuable work experience. We will provide training to all volunteers to allow them to participate. Volunteering opportunities may be suited to pupils looking to pursue careers in childcare, health and social care, and teaching however for further information please contact the road safety team.

Road Safety Education