safety - rospa

SAFETYEducation

Summer 2008ISSN 0459-2034

Putting risk in its place

23rd 2008

Contents

SAFETY Education Summer 2008 1

Inside this issue...

Managing Editor Janice Cave

Editorial ConsultantJim Barrow

Occupational Safety AdviserRoger Bibbings

Risk Education AdviserJenny McWhirter

© Published termly by RoSPA EnterprisesLimited - a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Society for the Prevention ofAccidents.

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News 2Green Cross man helps

Key messages 3Burnley safety event

Orkney awareness 4Bus safety

Speeding 5Students targeted

Guiding principles 6Ten golden rules

The way forward 8Road safety congress

Staying Safe 10Public responses

Royal visitor 11Princess Anne in Dorset

News extra 12Focus on electricity

2 SAFETY Education Summer 2008

News

I Fire awards for two young men

I Green Cross manjoins the launchThe original Green CrossCode Man joined Jack Strawat a Blackburn school inFebruary for the launch of aroad safety awareness cam-paign.

Mr Straw and actor DavidProwse, who was most fa-mously known as Darth Vaderin the original Star Warsfilms, visited CrosshillSchool, Blackburn, to back aDVD aimed at promotingroad safety to children.

Created by Blackburnbased songwriter, JC and an-imator Brian E.W. McNultyfeaturing PCSO Mark Dixon,'Just Like me, by Buzzy BuzzyBee' is a fun, animated DVD,which promotes the message'Be Seen, Be Safe'. JC andPCSO Dixon wrote the lyricsand worked with animatorsin America to produce theDVD. PCSO Dixon also singsthe vocals.

Jack Straw joined David

Two young men from southeast Northumberland havereceived prestigious awardsfor their commitment toNorthumberland Fire andRescue Service.

Michael Froud and JamesAspin were both presentedwith the Community SafetyAward by Chief Fire OfficerBrian Hesler at a specialawards ceremony at LindenHall Hotel, Longhorsley.

Rob Clow, head ofNorthumberland CommunitySafety, said: “These twoyoung men became involvedwith the fire service’s com-munity safety academy attimes when their lives havenot been taking the directionthey would have maybewished. But both young menhave grasped the opportuni-ties given to them, movedforward, and become creditsto the fire and rescue service,

their families, and most of allto themselves.”

Michael Froud was a stu-dent on the first everFIREworks programme inOctober 2002, while he was apupil at Ashington HighSchool. FIREworks was a 10week, day release course forYear 9 High School studentswho may have low self es-teem, poor communicationsskills or be at risk of not ful-filling their full potential ineducation.

The FIREworks course in-spired Michael to continuehis involvement with the fireservice and he became thefirst member of the Ashing-ton branch of the YoungFirefighter’s Association inMay 2003, and he is still amember today, more than sixyears since he first joined.

Rob Clow said: “As a mem-ber of the Young Firefighter’s

Prowse to launch the DVD.The DVD features artworkfrom some of the pupils atthe school after PCSO Dixonran a poster competition.

Crosshill is a school for chil-dren with complex needs andlearning difficulties, aged be-tween 11 and 16. It also offersresources for other pupils,parents and professionals.

The DVD will be distributedto all primary schools inBlackburn and PCSO Dixonhopes it will help to raiseawareness of road safety.

He said: "A lot of hard workhas gone into this project andI am delighted with the sup-port it has received.Education is key to raisingawareness of road safetyamong children and this DVDis a fun way for us to get avery serious message across.I am extremely grateful toeveryone involved for theirhelp and support and to Mr

Prowse and Mr Straw forbacking this important cam-paign."

David Prowse, 72, has visit-ed more than 700 citiesaround the world and spokento half a million school chil-dren about road safety. Hesaid being the Green CrossMan was the best job he everhad.

The “Green Cross CodeMan” was a superhero char-acter created in the 1970's tohelp raise awareness of roadsafety. Mr Prowse, a 6ft 7install body builder and formerMr Universe played the roadsafety superhero for 14 years.

Head of Crosshill SchoolMike Hatch said: "This is agreat example of the commu-nity and schools working to-gether. Staff and pupils havethoroughly enjoyed being in-volved with the project. Thetune is so catchy the pupilsare regularly heard singing itaround the school. If Bob theBuilder got to number one, Idon't see why this tuneshouldn't."

Listen to the mp3 versionof the song on http://www.broadjam.com/johnnyuk123

Copies of the DVD can beobtained from [email protected]

Association, Michael has sup-ported every activity we haveorganised, including numer-ous fundraising activities andis currently taking a lead rolein the film being produced bythe Ashington branch focus-ing on reducing hoax calls tothe fire and rescue service.”

James Aspin joined the se-cond Fired-Up! programmeat Ashington Fire Station inJanuary 2007. The 32 dayprogramme is aimed at en-couraging young peoplewho are not in education,employment or training toachieve qualifications andskills to improve their futureemployability. During the 10week course James demon-strated massive enthusiasmand aptitude for the pro-gramme.

When James graduatedfrom his course in March2007 he was awarded the

fourth Stage of the Level 2BTEC Award in BasicFirefighting Skills. This is thehighest award available, withonly 74 students nationallyhaving achieved it.

Rob Clow said: “James hasalso become involved withother programmes which werun and took the opportunityto become a volunteer assis-tant instructor on the Fired-Up! programme in April lastyear. He really excelled in thisrole, which challenged hiscommunication, organisa-tional and practical firefight-ing skills, and he rose magnif-icently to this challenge.

James is currently enrolledon the Uniformed ServicesCourse at NorthumberlandCollege and whenever possi-ble he still works as a volun-teer in the community safetyacademy and has been a realasset to the team.”


News

Children entering the smoke tent

Poster winner Ann Bullock, centre, from Heasandford Primary School,had her poster displayed in the main entrance to Safety Town

Children learned about the importance of emergency calls

I Burnley gettingmessage across

tion team gave the childrenthe chance to dress up as anolder person while playing abalancing game and walkinground ‘Trip Terrace’ to see lifefrom a different perspective.This enabled the children todiscover for themselves thehazards some older peopleface and some things theycould do to reduce the risksfor older people falling.

Prior to Safety Town ACAPproject workers visited theschools and the children com-pleted a safety quiz, giving anindication of their priorknowledge before attendingthe event. The children thencompleted this quiz at theend of Safety Town, usingthe interactive softwareQwizdom. This allowed ACAPto fully evaluate the objec-tives of the event. After thequiz the children all receiveda ‘goodie bag’ containing var-ious items, including safetyleaflets, pencils and a UVmarker.

Prior to Safety Town all theYear 6 pupils who were dueto attend the event were

given the chance to enter a‘poster competition’. Thepupils were asked to design aposter advertising SafetyTown. A poster was chosenfrom each class to be enteredin the final. The posters wereexcellent and included somereally important safety mes-sages.

The winner, Ann Bullockfrom Heasandford PrimarySchool, had her poster en-larged and displayed in themain entrance to Safety Townall week. She was also invitedto bring two friends and cutthe ribbon to announce thegrand opening of Safety Townweek and was awarded a prizeof a Woolworths gift voucher.

“It is to the credit of thepractitioner that they en-gaged in so much practicalactivity. The children I joinedin the afternoon were clearly‘learning by doing’. I cameaway with some very goodand innovative examples ofinteractive safety education,”said John Vallender, ROSPAaccreditation programmemanager.

had the opportunity to go inthe ‘smoke tent’ to experi-ence how low down theywould need to be in a smokefilled room.

Police officers from Lanca-shire Constabulary informedthe children about the impor-tance of personal safety andthe children were madeaware of the importance ofsecurity marking their prop-erty with their postcode andhouse number using a UVpen (which they were provid-ed with at the end of SafetyTown).

Pennine Road Police andLancashire Partnership forRoad Safety set up a roadtraffic accident crash scenefor the children to investigatepossible causes of the acci-dent. This interactive sessiongave the children the oppor-tunity to discover the an-swers for themselves, mak-ing them understand why it isessential to wear reflectiveclothing, a cycle helmet and aseatbelt at all times.

Other sessions focused onpoisons around the home.Project workers from ACAPdiscussed with the childrenwhat a poison is, where theymight find them and the im-portance of not touching,smelling or tasting unknownsubstances.

The children could then ex-plore the kitchen and shed tomake it safer for younger chil-dren to visit. The falls preven-

The Accident PreventionTeam, East Lancashire Prim-ary Care Trust, held theirsecond Burnley safety townevent in November atBurnley Youth Theatre,through funding from BurnleyNeighbourhood RenewalFund. These multi-agencysafety events have allowedthe team and their partnersto pass on key safety mes-sages to just under 1,000school children in all.

“Once again we receivedexcellent feedback fromteachers, pupils and visitorswho attended Burnley SafetyTown. The week went fantas-tically well and I would like topass on my thanks to all in-volved for all their hard work and enthusiasm”. saidRosemary Acton, Burnleysafety town co-ordinator.

Year 6 pupils from localschools took part in six inter-active sessions, showingthem the risks they might beexposed to when they are intheir homes or out and about.These sessions included avisit to North West Ambu-lance Service where the chil-dren were told how to makean emergency call and weremade aware of the dangers ofhoax 999 calls.

Lancashire Fire and RescueService highlighted the im-portance of having a fire planand the best actions to take inthe unlikely event of a fire inthe home. The children also


News

I Orkney film focuses on school buses

I ‘Missing Matthew’ award

Road safety is everyone’s re-sponsibility. That’s the mes-sage behind ‘Hometime’, aneducational film which hasbeen produced locally by theOrkney Road Safety Forum.

The group intends to raiseawareness of school bussafety, particularly pupils re-sponsibilities when crossingcountry roads after getting offthe bus.

The film highlights theneed for pupils to avoid dis-tractions when crossing theroad and uses talking on amobile phone as an example.

Drivers are also remindedof their responsibility to bealert as they pass schoolbuses and be on the look outfor pupils crossing the roadsuddenly.

The DVD was filmed in asimilar way to the film‘Sliding Doors’, with one sto-

ryline showing the correct,safe way to leave the bus andthe other demonstrating thepossible outcome of an acci-dent.

The film will be shown toupper primary and secondaryage pupils in schools aroundOrkney and pupils will be en-couraged to discuss the is-sues raised by the film. TheDVD is also to be distributedto all road safety units acrossScotland.

More than half of Orkney’sschool pupils travel daily onthe school bus. The equiva-lent of a class of young peo-ple is killed on Scotland’sroads in an average year.

The film was produced onlocation by the Orkney MovieGroup, using local actors andschool pupils and was creat-ed with funding and assis-tance from Highlands and

Islands Fire and RescueService, Northern Constab-ulary, NHS Orkney, Orkney

Lancashire Partnership forRoad Safety is celebratingthe news that it’s new film“Missing Matthew”, whichhas been taking Year 11 pupilsin Lancashire by storm, hasswept aside quality competi-tion in the British Associationof Communicators in Bus-iness Awards to take classwinner in the film category.

The film tells the true heart-breaking story of the Hannonfamily who lost their 22 yearold son Matthew, in a carcrash.

Experts from the communi-cations industry who judgedthe competition, said: “Mydaughter had her first drivinglesson the week before I re-viewed this DVD - I startedout as a reviewer, but havingwatched the DVD, I realised Ihad become a consumer. Thattransformation shows howcompelling the scripting andproduction of MissingMatthew is.

“The DVD captures theviewer’s attention and holdsit throughout. The first sec-

tion was particularly evoca-tive and dealt sympathetical-ly and in a true-to-life fashionwith the reactions of thosewho loved Matthew.

“In the second section, thechoice of PC Andy Spousewas inspired: his delivery ofhis experiences was clear.

“Dividing the content withPC Mark Royal-Evatt was suc-cessful. His explanation forparents of the warning signsthat they should take an inter-est in their children’s drivingwas memorable because itwas so well-structured. Icould remember virtually allof the points he made aftermy first viewing.

“Best of all is the trigger toaction at the end. It certainlymade me think, because thisis a truly excellent production.It is a wake-up call to parentsand young people alike.”

Louise Birkett, CiB Centralchairman, says: “Standardsin the CiB Central awards arealways extremely high – I’dlike to congratulate everyonebehind Missing Matthew and

wish them every success withtheir campaign.”

Linda Sanderson, com-munications manager forLancashire Partnership forRoad Safety said: “Youngdrivers aged 17-24 make upjust 16 per cent of drivers onthe roads in Britain, yet theyare involved in 52 per cent ofall road deaths. The feedbackwe have had from pupils andteachers is incredible... hun-dreds of Year 11’s have beenstunned into silence.

“This film could reallymake the difference betweenlife and death and anyonewho works with or lives withyoungsters who will soonlearn to drive, or who havejust started, needs to see thisfilm which can be watchedfree of charge at www.safe2travel.co.uk.

Anyone who is keen toknow more about theLancashire Partnership forRoad Safety ‘Wasted LivesEducation Programme’ canspeak to Kat Whitemoss on01772 534 592.

I End to red tapeThe Royal Society for thePrevention of Accidents haswelcomed news from theGovernment that red tapewhich stops teachers fromtaking children on schooltrips is to be slashed.

Tom Mullarkey, the chiefexecutive of RoSPA, said:“This is a major step in theright direction towards sim-plifying regulation and reduc-ing bureaucracy.

“The important thing is thatchildren have a safe and ex-cellent learning experienceand any impediment to thatobjective needs to be revisit-

ed. Teachers need supportand guidance, not endless,unnecessary form-filling.”

The measures to make iteasier for teachers to takepupils out of the classroomwere announced in theStaying Safe action planlaunched by the Departmentfor Children, Schools andFamilies. Among the propos-als is a quality “badge”scheme for places such asmuseums, field study centresand historic houses, whichwould help reduce the bu-reaucratic burden on teachersby letting them know whichones manage safety effec-tively.

RoSPA believes school tripsare a vital part of the learningexperience. They can helpchildren to understand andmanage risks, and everythingpossible should be done toencourage them.

Simple measures the chari-ty recommends schools totake include: • Ensuring teachers have the

necessary competence andskills to lead the trip theyare planning

• Involving young people inthe risk assessment pro-cess

• Ensuring parents are fullyaware of what is plannedso that they are happy theirchildren will want to partic-ipate

• Making sure what they ac-tually do is relevant to thelearning experience (notmaking last-minute deci-sions to introduce new ac-tivities which have notbeen properly thoughtthrough)

• Having a plan B and plan Cin case circumstances (egweather, travel arrange-ments) alter while on thetrip.

Islands Council, OrkneyCoaches, British Red Crossand Sacro.


News

I Coroner helps safety driveSeventeen to 25 year olds ac-count for just eight per centof all car driving licences inLondon, but are involved in18 per cent of all collisions

The consequences ofspeeding were brought hometo young drivers in a series ofhard hitting workshops set upby the London Safety CameraPartnership, led by Transportfor London.

Students from 20 Londonboroughs attended the “RiskIt and Lose It” workshops in-volving a mock inquest heldby a real Coroner, a dramaticfilmed reconstruction of acrash and presentations frommembers of the emergencyservices and people affectedby real life crashes.

In 2006, 4,419 drivers andriders between 17 and 25years were involved in speed-related collisions onLondon's roads.

The “Risk It and Lose It”road safety event explored theissue of risk-taking behaviour,and considered the role ofboth the passenger and thedriver in vehicle collisions. The

theme of the event was “If youspeed, or are a passenger in aspeeding vehicle, you risk los-ing your life, your licence,

your friends and your free-dom”, addressing both thephysical and social conse-quences of dangerous driving.

In addition to the dramaticCoroner's court mock in-quest, presided over byAssistant Deputy Coroner,Lorna Tagliavini, studentscompeted in a quiz show de-vised with the DriversStandard Agency, and seeinga reconstruction of a colli-sion scene, complete withemergency services officersdescribing the horror theyface when recovering a colli-sion.

Christine Fitzgerald, roadsafety communications man-ager, London Safety CameraPartnership, said, ''Youngdrivers are far too heavilyrepresented in collision sta-tistics. Some of the reasonsfor this are young drivers canbe over confident behind thewheel and often do not un-derstand the consequencesof speeding.

“Risk It and Lose It aims tomake young drivers not onlythink about the physical con-sequences or excessivespeed like death and seriousinjury, but also the social,emotional and psychologicalconsequences”.


Education

Setting principles for educationAs RoSPA’s risk education advisor I receive regular re-quests to review safety edu-cation resources produced byother organisations, to en-dorse resources by the addi-tion of the RoSPA logo, or tomake links from the RoSPAwebsite to sites belonging toother organisations where resources can be accessed.

Of course, it is flatteringthat other organisations valuethe endorsement RoSPAmight offer, but this is rarely astraightforward matter. Whilethose developing resourcesstrongly believe they aremaking a real and valuablecontribution to keeping chil-dren and young people safe,they rarely have reliable evi-dence to support those be-liefs.

Indeed, if like Kerbcraft orsimilar well funded re-sources, their new DVD,leaflet, website or Theatre inEducation project had beenproperly evaluated, RoSPA’sendorsement would not beneeded. The evidence wouldspeak for itself. So how is itpossible to judge the worthor value of a resource whichhas had little or no formalevaluation?

Recently RoSPA was invitedto work with the PSHEAssociation (http://www.pshe-association.org.uk/) toresearch and develop theprinciples for effective safetyeducation. This work was inturn commissioned by theDepartment for Children,Schools and Families (DCSF)as part of the new ChildSafety Action Plan (http://pub-lications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-00151-2008.pdf )

‘Safety’ included injury pre-vention and personal safety,which in turn included bully-ing, child abuse preventionand violence prevention. Theliterature on each of thesetopics is huge, especially

when you consider how theinjury prevention aspects ofsafety education is fragment-ed into road safety, watersafety, railway safety – to

name just a few!Using mainly existing re-

views and summaries of theliterature published in peerreviewed journals over thelast 10 years we have beenable to establish 10 principleswhich can be used both to re-view safety education re-sources, but also, important-ly, as a starting point for thedevelopment of resources.

Principles for effective safe-ty education (see http://www.rospa.com/safetyeducation/info/ReviewSE_briefing_paper.pdf) for a more detailed de-scription of the principles

The literature review, ashort briefing paper and acheck list for auditing practicecan all be downloaded fromthe safety education sectionof the RoSPA website(http://www.rospa.com/safe-tyeducation/index.htm) orfrom the PSHE Associationwebsite.

In draft form one of the les-son plans invited children todescribe why children of theirage do not wear cycle hel-mets. What this would havedone was enable the childrento rehearse and reinforce allthe negative messages theyhad learned about protectivehelmets.

Based on the tenth princi-ple ‘Adopt positive approach-es which model and rewardsafe behaviour, within a safe,supportive environment’ we

recommended a more posi-tive approach to the lesson.

This began with a list of allthe activities where a persontheir age might wear a safety

helmet and why, before ask-ing what reasons youngerchildren might give for notwearing a helmet. Then, put-ting the children in the role ofexpert, we suggested askingthem what they learned andwhat they knew from experi-ence about why children of allages should wear cycle hel-mets.

Children were then askedto collect up and vote on thebest reasons and finally to re-view other protective cloth-ing for the different activitiesthey had listed.

While still being able tochallenge some of the rea-sons for not wearing safetyhelmets the overall tone ofthe lesson is positive. It alsobuilds on and validates chil-dren’s existing knowledgeabout the benefits of wearinga cycle helmet and other pro-tective clothing and enablesthem to choose the positivemessages which work bestfor their age group.

Applying the relevant prin-ciples on a lesson by lessonbasis gave the overall re-source a greater chance ofbeing used effectively to pre-vent head injuries, based onthe best available evidence.

In another example amedia company Child’s EyeView recently evaluated oneof their latest resources‘Keeping healthy, Stayingsafe’ using the audit tool,

based on the 10 principles(also on the RoSPA and PSHEAssociation websites). This iswhat they fed back to us:

The 10 principles constitutea very clear and usable guideto help teachers assess thevalue of a safety educationresource, and to audit theirprovision of existing re-sources. Teachers would findthe principles of use, also, ininforming the planning oftheir safety education deliv-ery, and as part of CPD.Similarly, the principleswould be of value to develop-ers of safety education re-sources, in order to optimiseimpact in terms of content,approach and relevance. Theprinciples would have provid-ed very useful markers while

‘Adopt positive approaches which modeland reward safe behaviour, within a safe,

supportive environment’

By Jenny McWhirter

The 10 golden rulesfor assessment

1. Encourage the adoption of, or reinforce, a wholeschool approach, within the wider community

2. Use active approaches to teaching and learning (including interactive and experiential learning)

3. Involve young people in real decisions to help themstay safe

4. Assess children and young people’s learning needs5. Teach safety as part of a comprehensive personal

social and health curriculum6. Use realistic and relevant settings and re7. Work in partnership8. Address known risk and pro9. Address psychosocial aspects of safety

e.g. confidence, resilience, self esteem, self efficacy10. Adopt positive approaches which model and re

safe behaviour, within a safe, supportive enviro


Education

cationproducing ‘Keeping healthy,Staying safe’.

It is not the intention thatevery safety education re-source or activity should slav-ishly address all 10 principles.Indeed given their emphasison whole school, whole com-munity approaches, and theimportance of starting whereyoung people are, it would beimpossible for any externalprovider such as RoSPA orother safety organisations todo so. However, with an un-derstanding of the principleswe can all develop resourceswhich fit better with the pub-lished evidence for effectivepractice, and which teacherscan then choose to build theirwhole school approach tosafety.

olden rulessessment

of, or reinforce, a wholen the wider community o teaching and learning

nd experiential learning)n real decisions to help them

o ng people’s learning needs a comprehensive personal

c lumnt settings and resources

d protective factorsaspects of safety nce, self esteem, self efficacyches which model and reward

safe, supportive environment

Now we have the principles, RoSPA can bemore transparent about why we endorsesome safety education resources and notothers. It is also easier to communicate ourideas to those who approach us when theyare starting out on developing resources.

Recently BIRT (the Brain InjuryRehabilitation Trust) asked us to review a

draft set of lesson plans to be offered toschools to support their annual Look After Your Head campaign. This campaignruns in schools close to their brain injuryrehabilitation centres and includes aposter competition for primary schoolpupils to be used in the campaign the fol-lowing year.


Tackling young drivers and promoting walking

RS Congress

RoSPA’s Road SafetyCongress has always givendelegates the opportunity tohear about initiatives whichare ongoing across the country.

This year’s event was nodifferent, with a wide rangeof projects presenting theirwork.

Steve Whitehouse and JeanHunt from Sefton Councilgave details of a range ofprojects which linked roadsafety with environmental/sustainable transport andhealth agendas. Some of theschemes aimed to increasecycling, both among childrenand adults, and includedcycle training and mainte-nance sessions. Others pro-moted walking and includedpedestrian safety training.

Nick Lloyd and IreneWilliamson, of StaffordshireCounty Council, presentedthe Y-DIE initiative (YoungDriver Information Program-me).

Figures show that 16-25-year-olds accounted for 33per cent of Staffordshire’stotal road casualties in 2006,and five key areas of concernwere identified: speed; drink

and drug-driving; non-seat-belt wearing; peer pressure;and inexperience versusover-confidence.

The council embarked onan education, training and

publicity campaign. Schemesincluded: a crash investiga-tion project, in which stu-dents used information fromreal incidents to play the roleof crash investigation offi-cers; a Pass Plus scheme; awebsite featuring interactivegames; a bus banner cam-paign, particularly aimed atparents; and a theatre in edu-cation project.

An alcohol and drug-driv-ing resource was recently de-veloped, featuring videofootage of two young peoplespeaking frankly about howdriving convictions and los-ing their licences had impact-ed on their lives.

Blackburn with Darwen’sMosque Marshalling Schemefeatures community volun-teers acting as chaperones tohelp children on their way toand from mosques afterschool.

The chaperones help chil-dren across roads, althoughthe children, who have beenissued with high-visibilityjackets, still remain involvedin decisions about when tocross. Road safety talks havealso been given in mosquesto both children and adults.

“It is a self-sustaining com-munity initiative, for the com-munity and by the communi-ty,” said Graham Campbell, ofBlackburn with Darwen RoadSafety Team.

The work of Blurton DadsGroup was presented by JimTunney, of Stoke-on-TrentCity Council, and DaveBarnish, the group’s chairman.

Local dads and male carershave been involved in pro-moting cycling and the provi-sion of cycle training amonglocal children.

The group, which also or-ganises community events,including barbecues, tripsand sports activities, hasproved so successful thatother organisations nowcome to it for advice on start-ing up their own initiatives.

Sara Basterfield, seniorbenchmarking officer at theCTC Charitable Trust, outlinedthe North West Cycle TrainingBenchmarking Pilot Project.

The project, which ran fromJune 2006 - July 2007, in-volved local authorities andindependent cycle trainingproviders in sharing experi-ences of cycle training provi-sion.

It aimed to enable trainingproviders to evaluate the

management, content anddelivery of their courses again-st the benchmark of theNational Standard (Bikeability),and to enable informed deci-sions to be made about fu-ture projects.

Participants reported thatthey had a better understand-ing of the National Standard atthe end of the project and thatthey had seen examples ofgood practice which wouldhelp them in their future plans.Irene Williamson, road safety officer at Staffordshire County Council,

spoke about young drivers

Sharing trainingexperiences

Some schemes aimed to increase cycling,both among children and adults, and

included cycle training and maintenance


RS Congress

New ways toengage publicNew and innovative ways ofengaging with the public areneeded if deaths and injurieson Scotland’s roads are tocontinue to fall.

That was the message withwhich Stewart StevensonMSP, the Scottish Govern-ment’s Minister for Transport,Infrastructure and ClimateChange, opened RoSPA’s73rd Road Safety Congress.

Addressing 300 delegatesat Glasgow’s Crowne Plazahotel, Mr Stevenson outlinedrecent achievements.

He said: “We have madeconsiderable progress over anumber of years. By 2006, thenumber of people killed or se-riously injured had fallen 39per cent compared to the av-erage for 1994-98, just shortof the 40 per cent target weare aiming for in 2010.”

But he stated a commit-ment to reducing road casu-alties further, mentioningyoung drivers, rural roadsand drink driving as continu-ing concerns.

He said: “A new approach isneeded which looks beyondthe traditional to the new andinnovative.”

The Minister described thetheme of the conference -Securing Wider Engagementin Road Safety - as highly rel-evant to Scotland, particular-ly in light of the recent estab-lishment of a Road SafetyPanel and the consultationabout a new 10-year roadsafety strategy.

“The aim is to draw thewider community into the de-velopment of the strategy,”he said. “It is a running themeto say to people that theyshould get involved. In partic-ular, we wish to engage withyoung people.”

With research showing thatattitudes to driving areformed long before someoneis old enough to get behindthe wheel, he said there wasa need to reach school pupilsat every stage of their educa-tion and to do more workwith parents.

How furnitureaffects pupilsThe Furniture IndustryResearch Association is tolaunch a certification schemeto help specifiers choose bet-ter furniture products – andto make pupils more willingto learn and less prone toback pain.

Recent research has shownthe average height andweight of 10-16 year olds hasincreased since the 1970s,when the last major studywas conducted. However,much of the furniture used inschools takes the ‘one size fitsall’ approach, and does nottake into account differentsizes and height differences,and neither does it affordflexibility.

These elements are essen-tial not just from a learningpoint of view – discomfortcauses fidgeting and disrup-tion, which are not conduciveto education – but also from

the perspective of children’shealth. Recurrent back pain inschool age children is in-creasing, with one UK studyfinding 36per cent of 11-14year olds experiencing thecondition.

Levent Caglar, SeniorErgonomist at FIRA, said“Children typically spend15,000 hours sitting down inclassrooms during their edu-cation, but a lot of existingschool furniture is not fit forpurpose. It is often the lastthing considered by speci-fiers for new buildings or re-furbishments, and this can re-sult in the choice of cheap op-tions which hinder learningand damage the health ofpupils”.

The British Council forSchool Environments endors-es the call to action, Safeseats of learning, on whichthe scheme is based. BCSEDirector, Ty Goddard, said“The British Council forSchool Environments recog-nises the right of young peo-ple to learn in an environ-ment which is safe, healthyand achieves the highestquality possible. We must allbe committed to improvingthe quality, attractiveness andhealth of the learning andcommunal spaces in ourschools. Environmental fac-tors have significant effectson pupil and teacher well-being. Poor quality lighting,ventilation, acoustics and fur-niture all have a negative ef-fect on student achievementand health.

”What we value in ourhomes; we should value in

our schools. What we would-n't accept in our workplaces,should not be part of ourschools. Good school furni-ture can and does make a dif-ference.

”We must ensure thatmoney spent on furniture isfit for purpose. The UK hassuppliers willing to innovateand we must continue to in-vest in and design fit for pur-pose and flexible furniture.Poor ergonomic design ofclassroom chairs can affectconcentration, handwritingand general well-being. Wewelcome the work of FIRAand this landmark document,Safe seats of learning.”

Britax Excelsior Ltd's Fiona McCartney, senior product trainer, andMark Bennett, technical support manager. Britax was sponsoringRoSPA's Road Safety Congress for the 10th year running

Recent research has shown the averageheight and weight of 10-16 year olds

has increased since the 1970s


LASER

The Government’s responseto the Staying Safe consulta-tion emphasises the need formore safety education andplay safety.

There was strong supportfor Personal Social andHealth Education (PSHE) as away of teaching children andyoung people about risk.Some respondents alsocalled for PSHE to be made acompulsory part of the cur-riculum.

Several consultation re-spondents pointed out thevalue of other forms of safetyeducation, citing Crucial Crewor LASER centres, where chil-dren go and experience riskin a safe environment.

Responses suggested thatthe provision and quality ofsuch safety education variesgreatly throughout the coun-try. Some areas have well-developed and evaluatedschemes, while others do nothave any. It was felt that greatbenefit could be derived fromsharing material and goodpractice to help children andyoung people in more areashave access to high qualitysafety education.

Many young people spokeabout the need for the deliv-

erers of safety education tohave credibility, and severalrespondents felt that youthworkers, or people with di-rect experience of relevantproblems, rather than teach-ers, should go into schools todeliver safety education;

Several respondents feltthat risk education should notjust be focused on childrenand that parents and carersalso need to learn these skillsin order to teach their ownchildren.

To promote better under-standing and management ofrisks it is intended to.• Set up a new child safety

education coalition to deliv-er and evaluate child safetyeducation across the coun-try and ensure that morechildren, including disabledchildren, have access to ac-tivities such as Crucial Crewor LASER centres

• Launch a major new com-munications campaign onchildren’s safety, includinginformation for parents and

carers about risks to theirchildren’s safety, targetedcommunications to fami-lies living in high risk areasand public communica-tions to encourage peopleto take responsibility forchildren’s safety

• Publish the results of thereview proposed in theStaying Safe consultationdocument, looking at whichsafety education resourcesfor PSHE are of the mostuse, to help teachers identi-fy the best resources fortheir lessons

• Explore ways in which safe-ty education can be reflect-ed in the National PSHEContinuing ProfessionalDevelopment Programmeand the ways in which thiscan be made available to arange of practitioners in-cluding those in FE.Among the ideas on pro-

moting play the Governmentintends to:• Work with the Play Safety

Forum, a group of national

agencies involved in playsafety, to help play pro-viders understand the im-portance of balancing thebenefits of offering childrenopportunities to take risksin their play with ensuringthe levels of risk are rea-sonable

• Spend £225 million on playinitiatives which include of-fering every local authoritycapital funding whichwould allow up to 3,500playgrounds nationally tobe rebuilt or renewed andmade accessible to childrenwith disabilities

• Publish a play strategy bySummer 2008. Create 30adventure playgrounds for8-13 year olds in disadvan-taged areas, as announcedin the Children’s Plan

• Launch new guidance ontaking pupils outside theclassroom as part of the‘Out and About’ package,which will also include re-vised Health and Safety ofPupils on Education Visitsguidance.

• Work with the Health andSafety Executive and otherpartners to reinforce themessage to schools thatrisk assessment must beproportionate – in order tominimise risk withoutdenying children the oppor-tunity to experience thebenefits of learning outsidethe classroom.Responses to the proposals

made in Staying Safe weregenerally positive. However,some respondents had reser-vations and felt that the pro-posals in Staying Safe did notrecognise the true serious-ness of accidental harm anddid not go far enough.

The full Staying Safe Actionplan is available at http:// pub-lications.everychildmatters.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-00151-2008.pdf

Staying Safe responses

Responses suggested that the provisionand quality of such safety educationvaries greatly throughout the country


Risk education

Streetwise has royal visitorThe Princess Royal has visit-ed Dorset’s award winning LVStreetwise Safety Centre inBournemouth. This was thecentre’s first royal visit. Thereshe observed Dorchester-based Damers First Schoollearning about keeping safeand preventing accidents ontheir safety tour and metstaff, supporters and volun-teers. LV Streetwise is an in-door life-sized safety educa-tion village comprising tradi-tionally built bricks and mor-tar scenes from everyday life.

Arriving at a local recre-ation ground by helicopter,she travelled to the safetycentre with the LordLieutenant of Dorset, MrsValerie Pitt-Rivers. She spentalmost an hour and a halfwatching the safety tour,meeting many of the charity’ssupporters and volunteersand finally unveiling a com-memorative stone plaque tomark the occasion.

The Princess Royal was metat the safety centre by a civicreception party including: TheHigh Sheriff of Dorset, AdrianScott; Pam Donnellan, chiefexecutive of BournemouthBorough Council; Sir JohnButterfill MP BournemouthWest – all of whom are alsotrustees of the charity – alongwith the Mayor ofBournemouth, Cllr Ann Filer,Dorset Police Deputy ChiefConstable Chris Lee andAlison Curtis, LV Streetwisecentre manager.

Alison Curtis, who hasbeen the centre managersince it opened in 1998, thenescorted The Princess Royalinto the safety centre whereshe observed children learn-ing how to cross the roadsafely, make a ‘practice’ 999call and take part in the rail-way safety scenario aboardthe full-size Virgin Expresstrain.

The Princess Royal wasalso introduced to variousgroups in the village itself in-cluding: PC Andy Saunders

who was the project managerseconded from Dorset Policein 1997 to build the centre;Mike Emsley, chair of trusteessince 2000; Darran Gunter,Chief Fire Officer Dorset Fire& Rescue and Streetwisetrustee; Dennis Holt, chair-man of LV, a founder sponsorand now the main commer-cial sponsor of the centre;Joanna Dawson, director ofCar Crash Line Group; NealButterworth, editor DailyEcho; Paul Gale, area directorMorgan Ashurst; Tony Cooke,

MD Bournemouth and WestHampshire Water; AndyHeaton, financial director ofThe Gold Driving Academy;

and oldest volunteer 80-year-old Denis Phillips andyoungest volunteer 15-year-old Adam Fitzwalter.

More than 100 supportersincluding 50 volunteers fromthe safety centre were pres-ent at the special visit. AlisonCurtis, said: “It is a real hon-our for everyone involvedwith LV Streetwise - trustees,supporters and all our won-derful volunteers alike - to re-ceive the first royal visit in thecentre’s history, particularlyin what is coming up to the

The Princess Royal commemorates her visit to Streetwise in Bournemouth

tenth year of operation of anamazing project we all feel sopassionately about.”

Dennis Holt, chairman of LVsaid: “Protecting our childrenand their families is at theheart of our business and ourbrand, and the centre pro-vides an invaluable servicefor children to learn abouteveryday dangers in a con-trolled environment. We aredelighted that The PrincessRoyal has had time to visitthis leading centre of its type,and see for herself how ithelps Dorset’s children learnhow to stay safe.”

For further informationabout LV Streetwise or volunteering at the centre,please contact Alison Curtis,LV Streetwise centre manag-er, on 07801 970883 or [email protected] or visit the website atwww.streetwise.org.uk

She saw children learning how to crossthe road safely, make a ‘practice’ 999 call

and take part in the railway safety


News extra

I Electricity launch celebratedTo celebrate the launch of itselectrical safety educationalwebsite for children, www.switchedonkids.org.uk, theElectrical Safety Council hasproduced an electrical safetyeducational pack.

The pack has been distr-ibuted to every primary levelschool and education author-ity throughout the UK.Additional copies of the packare available to schools, freeof charge, by [email protected].

The pack includes a teach-ing aid in the form of an elec-tricity themed board game,as well as literature on im-proving electrical safetywhich ties in with the curricu-lum.

The website, aimed at 5-11year olds, has been set upwith two main aims: to sup-port teachers delivering keystages of the science curricu-lum associated with electrici-ty, specifically electrical safe-ty, and to engage the interestand attention of the childrento make learning about thesubject fun as well as educa-tional. I New DVD aims at bikersI Councilfined for gas

Greater Manchester’s Cas-ualty Reduction Partnership(Drivesafe) and Lancashire’sRideSafe BackSafe team havejoined forces with the High-ways Agency to produce aroad safety DVD for youngmotorcycle and scooter riders.

The free DVD takes a story

of young love and romanceand compares the pitfalls andmistakes made on a first datewith those made by youngand inexperienced bikers.Through subtle and some-times subliminal messages,‘First Date’ explains the rulesof dating and biking in a waythat neither patronises norshocks the viewer.

Karen Delaney at Drivesafe,a member of the RideSafeBackSafe team, explains: “Weare trying to reduce the num-ber of casualties and colli-sions involving motorcyclistsin general, through a varietyof educational and promo-tional mediums. Due mostlyto over exuberance and a lackof experience, many 16 to 24year olds are adding to thestatistics and this is one cam-paign through which we hopeto engage them.

“We launched the DVD and

started distributing freecopies on February 14,(it hadto be Valentines Day!) at theTrafford Centre in Man-chester. The RideSafe Back-Safe team were there withbikes and scooters on displayand a celebrity appearanceby our ambassador who isalso the fastest lady to raceon the Isle of Man TT circuit,Maria Costello”.

As an integral part of thisroad safety initiative, thecampaign has also gained thesupport of colleges and uni-versities across GreaterManchester and Lancashire,many of whom have dis-played posters, promotingthe launch.

The free DVD also includesextracts from the HighwaysAgency’s own “Great Roads,Great Rides” DVD and will beavailable through the websiteat www.ridesafebacksafe.co.uk

Gateshead Council has beenfined £10,000 after an inci-dent where carbon monoxideleaked into a classroom.

The council pleaded guiltyto a charge under the Healthand Safety at Work Act.Pupils and staff were evacuat-ed from Crookhill PrimarySchool in Ryton when an in-adequately maintained boilerbegan emitting the gas.

An investigation by the HSEshowed the council had failedto operate an effective gassafety management system.Gateshead magistrates alsoordered the authority to pay£6,830 costs.

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