Road injuries fall as work continues to teach primary pupils about safety
Children in Years 5 and 6 have taken part in a specially designed road safety lesson
Last updated 16th Jan 2024
Almost 1,000 primary school children across Torbay have been taking part in a specially designed road safety lesson.
The now annual session for 9 to 11 year olds has resulted in a slight fall in the number of reporter road accidents in the area - from 295 in 2021 to 229 in 2022.
The half-day interactive lesson was delivered using conversation, drawing and drama, ending with a performance using road safety scenario cards.
Torbay Council commissioned Taleblazers who are part of the Torbay Arts in Schools Network to design and deliver the lesson to nine local primary schools, as part of its ongoing work to make Torbay’s roads safer for all road users.
Cllr Adam Billings, Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Pride in Place, Culture & Events and Parking, said: “Educating young road users is an important part of our work in making sure Torbay’s roads are safe for all road users, but especially young pedestrians as they start to make more solo journeys.
“It has been fantastic to see how the children have engaged in the lesson and we hope they share their learning with their peers and have conversations about how important it is to be alert and responsible on our roads with their parents and carers.
“We are exploring how we can role this lesson out more widely across Torbay to reach more young road users.”
Barton Hill Academy in Torquay was the final school to benefit from the lesson and were joined by Vision Zero South West. As part of their learning the children got to work with officers from Devon & Cornwall Police and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, before exploring some of the emergency vehicles.
Each child from Barton Hill Academy that took part in the lesson were provided with a reflective and flashing band to wear on their journeys to and from school over the darker winter months.
All children from the nine schools that took part in the lesson were asked to share their feedback, including who they would like to perform their road safety short play too. Some big ideas were generated, which included performing to the King Charles III in London, as well to family members and younger siblings.
Richard Blagdon from Taleblazers, said; “The children have loved learning about road safety in these fun and active workshops, they’ve encouraged and supported each other throughout each of the discussions and tasks.
"It has been wonderful for us to be able to deliver road safety in such a creative and artistic way and to receive such enthusiastic, energetic responses from the children.”