Hafren School is a "star" in road safety campaign

National road safety charity Brake says Hafren Junior School in Newtown is a "star school" in the UK for its efforts to get more children walking to school and encouraging motorists to cut their speed.

And its urging other schools in the area and throughout the UK to get involved in the campaign.

Last year Hafren took part in the charity's Giant Walking Bus campaign which raised awareness of the need for children to be able to walk to school safely. It urged parents to ditch the car on the school run and other motorists to cut their speed on town roads and around schools to 20mph.

The school organised a five mile walk as part of the campaign and raised £220 for the Brake charity.Now the charity is promoting Hafren School as a beacon for helping children to walk to school in the UK as part of a promotion to get other schools taking part in this year's Giant Walking Bus event.

Julie Townsend, Brake deputy chief executive, says: “The Giant Walking Bus is a great way for schools to promote children’s right to be able to walk without fear or threat from traffic. It’s a chance to teach kids about road safety and why walking is healthy and eco-friendly. But it’s also about showing the local community why kids’ safety on foot is so vital, and how local drivers can make a big difference by slowing down.

"Many schools will have concerns about children’s safety in their area, and Giant Walking Bus can act as a springboard for achieving change to help protect everyone. We’re urging schools to sign up now to take full advantage of the resources and support Brake offers to help schools get involved.”

Emma Grosvenor, teacher at Hafren Primary School, says: “The Giant Walking Bus is a fantastic event that really helps to promote road safety to children, parents and local drivers. It provides an opportunity for the children to get involved in learning about safe walking, the dangers of traffic and why it’s important for drivers to slow down around schools.

"Schools can help spread these important messages through assemblies, road safety talks and by getting the children to design their own posters and slogans for the march. We’d definitely encourage other schools to take part and help keep children and their local community safe.”

The Giant Walking Bus involves children across the UK simultaneously marching for safer roads from their school gates, and often taking part in educational and awareness-raising activities in the run-up and on the day.

The event promotes the importance of children being able to walk and cycle without fear or threat from traffic, and calls on drivers to ‘GO 20’ - to protect children by slowing down to 20mph around schools, homes and shops. It also raises funds for Brake's work to improve road safety and care for families devastated by a death or injury on roads, as most schools fundraise on the day.

Primary schools can register now at www.walkingbus.org or call 01484 550061. Every school that takes part receives a free bumper pack of resources, including a banner, posters, stickers and certificates, to help them run their march and promote road safety on the day and year round.

In 2013 Hafren Junior School completed an impressive five mile route, raising a fantastic £220 for Brake. In addition to running the Giant Walking Bus, the school has also been actively involved in other road safety initiatives.

A junior road safety forum was set up with pupils from nine different primary schools, to think of new ways to tackle local road safety issues, such as parents not using appropriate child restraints and local residents driving too fast within the community. They were then joined by Brake's mascot Zak the Zebra to help them raise awareness of the campaign locally.

Three giant reasons for schools to march

• Learning about road safety: kids can research road risks and transport choices in their community, and make their own 'slow down' and 'get walking' placards and other creative materials. Brake provides guidance to schools on activities they can run. It's a great way to meet safety and citizenship goals and promote travel plans or a healthy or eco school status.
• Slow down drivers and get kids walking: the march gives kids a voice, helping them tell drivers to slow down and look out for kids. It ties in with Brake’s national GO 20 campaign and can be used as a springboard for schools to campaign for safer streets. Brake can help schools get publicity through local media, and promote the event in their newsletter or website, to get the road safety message out. 
• Help bereaved and injured families: kids can be sponsored by family and friends to take part, or schools can fundraise in other ways on the day, helping Brake campaign for road safety and support families bereaved and injured by road crashes.
  

Did you know

Every school day in the UK, 23 children are run over and hurt when walking or cycling to or from school and four of these children are killed or suffer serious injuries. That’s 713 children killed or seriously injured walking or cycling to school each year.

Death on the road is the biggest non-medical killer of school aged children, greater than drowning, falls or accidental poisoning combined.

Captions: Pupils from Hafren Junior School during last year's Giant Walking Bus campaign