Road safety team visit two schools to reinforce tips to pupils

Children at two Primary Schools in Stockport, Banks Lane Junior School and Dial Park Primary School, were visited by Stockport Council’s Road Safety Team in December.

Cllr Grace Baynham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Parks and Leisure Services, was also in attendance as the team visited both schools to give lessons on road safety.

The visits were part of the team’s regular sessions held at the borough’s schools.

At Banks Lane a Child Speedwatch lesson was delivered to Year 6 students and was designed to get the children thinking about their own personal safety as a pedestrian, car passenger, a cyclist and also as drivers in the future.

The children looked at factors that might affect a driver’s thinking distance and breaking distance, what may affect driver’s concentration and their control of the vehicle and how these may impact upon being able to bring a car to a safe stop.

The children had to estimate what they thought the average speed of vehicle on a local road would be and estimate the stopping distance for a vehicle on that road.

The children then went out of School to record vehicle speeds on a road near School. Upon returning to School, they then had to work out an average and see how good their estimate was.

The next task was for the children to work out stopping distances for different speed limits. They could then see how close their estimates were to those stated in the Highway Code.

At Dial Park, Year 2 pupils participated in Step Outside which involved going out of School and crossing roads nearby in a number of different situations, away from parked cars, near parked cars and at junctions. The children learnt how to use their Stop, Look, Listen and Think skills.

Year 4 students took part in Headsmart where they considered the importance of wearing a bike helmet when cycling. The children watched a short film, did an experiment using eggs and talked about the benefits of cycling.

Cllr Baynham said: “Each session at the two schools were very proactive lessons in which the children engaged really well, and the team also encouraged the children to talk about the lesson with family members and test their knowledge of the stopping distances.

“It was a really useful exercise in explaining the real-life consequences of road safety and the team do a fantastic job as we feel we, as a council, need to change the attitudes of every pedestrian and driver in our borough and further afield.”

Read more about the council’s road safety team.