Resources & Ideas
'Safe Routes to School' Road Safety Game - and it's Free!
Get your free copy of the specially designed 'Safe Routes to School' road safety game that children will enjoy. Based on pairing up cards, players are asked to match up road safety images. With varying levels of difficulty, the 'Safe Routes to School' road safety game will appeal to all primary school age groups. Play it online or download the game - it's small enough to fit on to a floppy disc:
Quizzes and Wordfinds
Try these online quizzes:
Checkout out a selection of Wordfinds - set up to easily download and do:
Yes it's all free - to Christchurch schools, that is. Need some stuff to improve the safety of school crossings? How about some goodies for promotions to highlight road safety? Or events to encourage active travel to school? To help out, here's what we can offer:
- Pedestrian flags - hand held, great for extra visibility
- High visibility jackets (for school crossing supervision - limited number)
- Cycle route maps of Christchurch
- Safety stickers
The road safety message always needs promoting at regular intervals. An easy way to do so is through the school newsletter. Here are some general points, in bullet point form, that can be placed one or two at a time in school newsletters.
Road Safety Tips
Need some short sharp statements to show the benefits of walking and cycling to school? Here's some information you can use to promote active travel.
Active Travel Benefits
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Local Walk to School Days
Some schools organise their own 'Walk to School Days'. Our role is to assist them as much as we can. They can be a very positive activity for school councils or classrooms to carry out, as shown by these comments from the Paparoa Street School Council last year:
In 2000 the School Council at Paparoa Street School consisted of a group of twelve very enthusiastic year five and six students. One of their roles that year was to help promote the Christchurch City Council "Walk a Child to School Day" in term one. They encouraged children to participate and helped with issuing certificates at the gates to all the walkers.
Following the success of this idea, the School Council decided to organise their own day. The counsellors wanted to continue raising awareness of healthy walking and reduce the congestion around the school entrances, making it safer for everyone.
As an incentive for walking, children who walked to school would have the opportunity to go in a draw and maybe win a spot prize. The School Council wrote to organisations explaining their idea and asking for support.
They promoted the day through the school by going to classes and discussing the benefits of walking, making posters and putting articles in the school newsletter for parents to also be informed.
On Tuesday, June 20 they had their first "Walk to School Day". It was an extremely cold frosty morning, but they met all of the students at the gates as they arrived at school, filling in lucky number cards for those who braved the cold and walked to school. The school roll is just over 500 and 370 walkers were counted. A very pleasing result, particularly considering the weather, and people certainly noticed how few cars there were outside school.
There were 30 children lucky enough to be drawn as prize winners. The prizes included large cookies, drink bottles, swimming passes, hydroslide passes and movie tickets. The School Council really appreciated the support they received from the organisations that offered the prizes. Since then Paparoa Street School has held many successful Walk to School Days.
Car Free Days
A 'Car Free Day' is bit like a 'Walk to School Day' by another name, but with an emphasis of reducing the effects of vehicles outside schools. Christchurch tried the idea during Kidsafe Week in 1999, and it's something that individual schools could try, eg. as a school council activity.
The Kidsafe Week Car Free Day in 1999 was specifically aimed at parents who normally drive their children to school. They were encouraged to leave the car at home. To promote the day, schools were invited to send in a school newsletter showing the names or numbers of families who took part, which went into a prize draw for health curriculum resources.
Twenty schools sent in entries. Several schools also supplied data, all showing that the numbers of children who had walked to school on Car Free Day were in excess of half their school roll. The highest figure achieved was 79% by St Teresa's School.
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Walking Wednesdays Class Challenge
The Walking Wednesdays Class Challenge was piloted in five Christchurch schools in the fourth term of 2004, commencing on International Walk to School Day with a walk to school event that twelve schools participated in.
Apart from reducing school related traffic, particularly parking congestion at the school gate, walking to school helps children learn to be streetwise pedestrians. However, many families feel they cannot walk to school because they live too far away from school or simply because they have insufficient time.
The Walking Wednesdays Class Challenge encourages families to walk part of the way to school (for approximately ten minutes) so that they enjoy all the benefits of walking (related to exercising, socialising, and reducing vehicle congestion at the school gate) without the challenges associated with walking the entire journey to school.
To encourage families to participate, classes compete with each other by attempting to be the class in each syndicate that achieves the highest percentage of participation during the period of the challenge. The challenge can be over a six or eight week period.
Participants are rewarded and encouraged with small items (stickers, bag tags, lanyards) during the challenge and every child who walks ten minutes to school on at least one Wednesday morning during the challenge gets a certificate acknowledging their effort. The class in each syndicate which achieves the highest percentage of participation is rewarded with sufficient swimming passes to have a pre-Christmas holidays class outing at a local Council swimming pool.
The challenge will be run again during the fourth term in 2005 with many more schools involved. It is hoped that as happened in 2004 families will be encouraged to walk on other days besides Wednesdays and interest in walking school buses will be stimulated.
- Awesomely Active Shield
The Awesomely Active Shield is an idea to encourage walking and cycling to school. The specially designed shield is awarded to the class with the highest percentage of children who walked or cycled to school on a given day, and is put up for grabs on a regular basis. A way to foster a walking/cycling spirit at school.
- Mystery Caught Walking/Cycling Days
These are days when children who walk or cycle to school are given a ticket to write their name on which makes them eligible for a prize draw at assembly. Names are drawn, with the lucky winners receiving prizes like a Council-sponsored family swim pass. A good way to integrate health and safety issues with everyday school activities like getting to school.
- School Road Safety Policies
Having the Board of Trustees develop a school road safety policy can be a good way to get the road safety message across to the school community. Getting parents to sign the policy at the time of enrolment is a good way of getting commitment to it.
A road safety policy can outline the practices expected of children and parents as they enter and exit school on the home to school journey. It can also address issues such as parking problems that can arise with parental pick up and drop off of children. The policy can also specify any consequences that might arise from behaviour that puts children's safety at risk (eg. stopping on no parking lines).
Links
Useful links to other sites in New Zealand and around the world concerned with the school journey and children's health and safety in general.
New Zealand
Christchurch City Cycling
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/Recreation/Cycling/index.asp
For information and promotion of cycling in and around Christchurch. Dedicated to all cyclists, especially those in the Christchurch city area. Information and promotional material on all cycling matters from safe routes for children to cycle to school to major sporting events.
Safekids
http://www.safekids.org.nz/
A service of Starship Children's Health, which works to keep children aged 0-14 years safe from preventable injury. Safekids mission is to reduce the incidence and severity of unintentional injury to children in New Zealand. Includes fact sheets on New Zealand child injury facts, data and general information.
Pinnacle Research
http://www.pinnacleresearch.co.nz/
Provides information on a research programme called "Identifying Factors to Change People's Transport Use. Has information on the Walking School Bus Project carried out with the Christchurch City Council, including project guidelines that were developed.
Land Transport New Zealand
http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/
Land Transport NZ is a crown entity. It aims to create a safety culture in New Zealand delivering safety outcomes in accordance with world best practice. Their site gives details on available resources on safety education, vehicle safety, and the road code. Fact sheets can be viewed online. And of course, there is the road toll update.
Sports and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC)
http://www.sparc.org.nz/
Sports and Recreation NZ, formerly The Hillary Commission for Sport Fitness and Leisure, has been set up by the Government to develop sport and physical activity so that more people can be involved and enjoy an active lifestyle. Details what programmes the Commission promotes, including Push Play, Healthy Maori Lifestyles, and Young People First. Also facts on the amount of sport and leisure New Zealanders do.
Overseas
International Walk to School Day
http://www.iwalktoschool.org/
Information, resources and links on this year's IWSD being held in October.
Go for Green
http://www.goforgreen.ca/home_e.html
Go for Green's mission is to encourage outdoor physical activity that protects, enhances or restores the environment. They are a Canadian non-profit organisation. Also gives information on how they promote safe and active travel to school, including the 'Walking School Bus'.
Sustrans
http://www.saferoutestoschools.org.uk/
A government funded charity working on practical projects to encourage people to walk and cycle more, so as to reduce motor traffic and its adverse effects. One key area is their Safe Routes To School Programme, with the site having news on what the UK is doing to improve the safety of the school journey.
Roadwise
http://www.roadwise.asn.au/
Roadwise is the name of Western Australia's local government road safety strategy. One of their programmes detailed is Safe Routes To School.
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