The 'Safe Routes to Schools' (S.R.S.) concept is intended to improve conditions for children who already walk or cycle to school and to encourage others to join them by providing safe and alternative routes using mechanisms to reduce risk and promote healthy living.
The concept was pioneered by Paul Osborne who envisaged that "SRS will not only benefit the community at large by reducing congestion and pollution but give children back their freedom to walk and cycle' (Sustrans, 1995). His concept has been a huge success in Odense, Denmark where child mortality rates were once very high but have since declined considerably. Similarly, other European countries have adopted this scheme and have proven its credibility. S.R.S. was then addressed in the U.K. on June 25th 1996, by Sir George Young, Secretary of State for Transport. There have since been many local authorities, some together with Sustrans, the civil engineering charity, which have developed safe routes to schools projects.
Dangerous road accidents, some of which are fatal, together with health problems associated with pollution from transport modes has decreased the daily quality of life for children. The U.K. government has acknowledged that the accident rate for child pedestrians is the worst in Europe by 31% higher than the E.C. average. That is why in May 1990, the U.K. Government announced its attempts to tackle the ever-growing problem of child casualties within their launch of its policy document Children & Roads: a safer way, whereby it claimed, "our aim is to educate parents so that they understand more fully the risks involved and therefore take responsibility for the safety of our children".
Road danger, lack of transport and fear of bullying has meant that parents are increasingly reluctant to send their children to school unescorted. Children are being taken by car rather than being accompanied by parents on walking journeys to school. This results in greater traffic, congestion and rising pollution levels which noticeably increase during term times. Since 1971-1990, the number of 7-8 year olds allowed to travel to/from school without parents has dramatically declined by 90% (National Travel Survey, D.o.T., 1995). Instead, parental escorting via cars has been increasing; since 1971 the number of 7-8 year olds driven to school has quadrupled (Sustrans). Parental escorting contributes to high volumes of traffic, thus causing congestion, as J.Grimshaw states, "over half the UK parents now escort their children to school, devoting nearly one hour of each working day to this'. Using the Department of Transport's (D.o.T) measurements of time lost it is estimated that figures are as high as £20 billion annually (C.B.I., 1988).
High parental escorting has inconceivably reduced a child's independent mobility, as Sustrans highlights: "it is understandable that parents may be anxious about the perils of traffic but ironic that fears may lead them to add to the congestion, and hence the danger". Whilst parents' concerns of protecting their child from traffic and the dangers of cycling and walking are understandable, many of today's children are deprived of social development. Social development skills are important in a child's life, influencing how they will cope in situations, experiencing things for themselves, opportunities to practise and learn. Without these opportunities their sense of identity will be harder to establish and adjust in a wider society.
Recent reports by the London Research Centre suggest that L.B. Brent has a high rate of accidents, totalling 1049 during the period of 1992-94. Road traffic injuries remain a major health problem. Between 1993-95, 36 people died on the roads and 1094 were seriously injured. The volume of cars on the road discourages healthier ways of travelling to school, e.g. cycling and walking. Lack of exercise has very serious consequences, e.g. coronary diseases, increases physical inactivity, and noise from road traffic is thought to contribute to stress-related illness (Public Health Annual Report, 1995-6, Brent & Harrow Health Authority).
This has prompted L.B. Brent and CILT to carry out the S.R.S. project. Harlesden Primary School was selected for the pilot project. This gives the school an opportunity to educate the children on matters such as traffic, health, safety and security. The S.R.S. scheme concentrates on the following measures in an attempt to deliver a successful project:
The S.R.S. scheme is part funded by L.B. Brent for the initial stages of the project, and the majority is funded by Harlesden City Challenge. It seeks to build community involvement by actively involving parents, children, teachers and professionals. Initiating the project is Fairlight Class (the upper juniors class of 29 children aged 11 years old) for the pilot study, Mr. Serai the teacher, Geoff Raw, Erica Rai and Richard Cornell the project supervisors, and myself who will act as the facilitator of the project.
Environmental education has been well established on the curriculum map of primary schools in England & Wales for almost 3 decades. The importance of this subject at a local, national and global levels has been realised, which led to the introduction of environmental education within the National Curriculum as a 'cross-curricular theme' in 1988 (Neal & Palmos, 1996). The emphasis of environmental education was underlined by Angela Rumbold, U.K. Minister of State for Education and Science, in a speech to young people on Thursday 27th July 1989, at the London International Science Fortnight:
"The environment is our children's future and many already know that ... we must encourage them to think positively about it ... what needs to be done to reduce the damage we do it, what opportunities there are for improving the quality of our surroundings - and to come up with practical solutions."
Environmental education is a vital component the S.R.S. project. The educational aspect of the project was to address the key concepts of transport, environmental and safety issues. Monday afternoons were devoted to the project for a duration of two hours over a period of two school terms.
The launch of the S.R.S. project was introduced to Fairlight Class on 18th December 1996. As a preliminary task, to enable the children to think seriously and carefully about S.R.S. issues, the children worked in groups of three/four. Besides their understanding of the concepts, they were to identify problems faced by individuals on their way to/from school. This first session was primarily a brainstorming lesson for the children to identify, discuss and consider their journeys to/from school. Brainstorming is a useful technique for an introductory lesson and ideal for group work. One member within each group is appointed as a scribe to write down everything which is discussed within their group, on the topic of 'S.R.S.'. The quantity of ideas is more important than the quality at this stage. Children often find it difficult to listen to other members of the group and to respond to what they are saying. This exercise therefore develops their listening skills which is essential. Once the children had discussed ideas in their groups, it was valuable to share them with the whole class. The class discussion was important to collate children's ideas and encourage others to challenge them. It enabled feedback from group work activity through sharing information and ideas. The unfamiliarity of the S.R.S. concepts provoked curiosity and enthusiasm within the class. This preliminary task gave an insight into the children's capability, knowledge and concepts. The class concerned had an extremely wide range of abilities but through regular weekly teaching, one was able to assess each individual. The initial lesson was most informative, enabling me to guide children of differing abilities so as to ensure progression.
Within Fairlight Class, one of the prime underlying questions was to identify the mode of transport by which children travel to/from school. It was apparent from the introductory lesson that, from the total of 29 children, three travelled by car as they lived further away from the school, whilst only one child cycled to school, but this was not on a regular basis. In one respect the S.R.S. objective of walking and cycling to school already applies to Fairlight Class, with exception of a few pupils.
The class discussion highlighted a vital matter determining the S.R.S. progression, and that was to point out that the school has a 'no cycling policy'. This was a crucial aspect which posed a problem for the S.R.S. objective to 'increase the number of children cycling to school'. Since the school is located in an inner city region with high volumes of traffic and pollution, parents and teachers fear that cycling would only increase the number of accidents. The promotion of cycling as a safer, environmentally friendly mode of transport is an obstacle posing conflict with the school policy. One can empathise with the concerns of both parents and teachers as the roads within close proximity of the school in Harlesden are designed primarily for cars, lorries and buses with no facilities or provision for cyclists. Due to the present school policy regarding cycling amongst their pupils, it seems wholly appropriate and the best possible solution to concentrate on promoting safer walking schemes.
Limited traffic calming measures exist at present, consisting of two pedestrian crossings at either end of the school. There has since been on-going road works during the period November '96 - May '97. Subsequently there are now three sets of traffic lights forming a T-junction and there are two traffic islands making it easier for pedestrians to cross. However, it would have been useful to have pelican crossings due to the regular crossing by school children.
Specific problems encountered by numerous children which were perceived as being safety hazards were:
Another aspect of safety mentioned by a few pupils was bullying which deterred them from walking alone to school. This is an important social issue which needs to be incorporated within the safety strategy of the S.R.S. project.
As a facilitator, in a new project area and school, this first lesson was rewarding and beneficial through the enthusiasm of the children providing useful and constructive comments.
Having generated the concerns and problems faced by Fairlight Class on their journeys to/from school, their second session enabled them to construct their own questions to other children of the school. The format, design and structure of a questionnaire were explained simply and briefly to the children. The questions proposed were good as feeder questions to identify what problems there were on their routes to school. However, for an effective approach to retrieve relevant information, the problematic routes and spots need to be identified, e.g. the locations of accidents or problems. The questionnaires designed by the children has helped to construct a standard questionnaire for all the parents and children in the school by taking on board their concerns.
The third S.R.S. lesson concentrated in depth on issues such as health, pollution (air/noise), accidents, traffic measures and security/safety. The children were evenly divided among the topics of research. A handout was given to each child to give them examples and assistance. Once again the brainstorm technique was used, but on an individual basis this time. Each child noted what knowledge they had of their specified topic, what they wanted to find out, and what sources they needed to help them with their investigation. Whilst this activity was supposed to steer thoughts and promote in-depth study, it proved to be quite difficult due to limited and restricted library resources related to the topic issues.
Safety was a focal point in the next lesson, in which the children were each issued with a photocopy of an article from the Evening Standard newspaper from January 1997, with the D.o.T.'s road safety campaign poster. Visual images have always been a popular teaching resource as they focus children's attention and act as a stimulus for talk. They bring in wider experiences of people and places outside the children's immediate surroundings. They can also acknowledge and reflect the child's experiences. As resources, posters are important for children to build up skills in visual literacy. Children need to understand that the messages given are influenced by attitudes and perceptions. The article was used to aid understanding of the issues of safety. In relation to the article, I drew upon questions to enhance their reading, understanding and interpretation skills. This task was very effective and stimulated the children's attention to current news regarding child safety and it also enabled them to criticise and explain their opinions through discussions in groups.
To provide a home for each individual's S.R.S. work, it seemed appropriate for each child to make and design their own S.R.S. folder. Using large pieces of sugar paper and stapling the edges together to form a simple folder proved to be manageable for the children. They were able to use their creative, artistic skills in designing their individual folders. Many of them had an eye for art and design as they used a variety of lettering techniques for the 'S.R.S.' and used imaginative symbols and pictures to convey relevant issues.
An important element of developing children's knowledge of routes and journeys to/from school is their acquisition of skill in reading maps. Maps are abstract documents. The confident use of maps requires the grasp of a range of related ideas, e.g. direction, scale, map language, keys. The aim of the map work prepared for the children was to develop their understanding and awareness of a London-wide, borough-wide and local-scale framework. They were each issued with three maps: one each of London, Brent and Harlesden. To overcome any confusion about the variety of maps presented, a brief summary was given explaining that the areas outlined in the London map were called boroughs and that the Brent map consists of wards of which Harlesden is one. Questions related to the map helped the children to familiarise themselves with where places were located and their journey to school. The map related questions (e.g. colour your route to school, mark on your problem spots, how many boroughs are there in London?, how many wards are there in Brent?) developed their mapping skills through reading information, identifying and marking routes. This proved to be another interesting lesson for the children to acquire new skills and understand new concepts.
Furthering creative work, acrostic poems were the task of the next lesson. A brief discussion took place on constructing and designing acrostic poems. It was decided that the children could choose specific words related to S.R.S. issues to create their own poem. Whilst the majority of children designed their own poems a few children felt their talents would be better used writing their own rap. This task enabled children to express their views and opinions through effective use of words and phrases. The raps which a few children chose to do were very well designed with striking, bold messages of children and safety.
The theme of the following lesson was road safety. Each child was issued with a comprehension, with pictures of dummy crashes showing the effects on passengers and drivers with and without seat belts. Questions were posed from the diagrams making the children aware of and understand road safety issues. Using pictures as an aid drew the children's attention to focus on such important matters. This highlighted the importance of visual resources. The subject generated topical discussion, whereby 20 children, from the total of 29, admitted to not wearing seat belts. This task was therefore not only educational but developed their social skills in relation to the dangers and risks of not wearing seat belts.
One felt the need to bring together the contrasts of the advantages of a safer, cleaner environment and the disadvantages of pollution, cars and traffic. The poster produced by Friends of the Earth (F.o.E.) in 1989 highlights the contrasts with bold titles: 'Cities for Cars' and 'Cities for People'. It was an example for children to look at before designing their own poster. A few questions were given, to help them think of their designs and images portrayed.
Using a proactive approach to learning, a road safety audit from the perspective of pedestrians was carried out as fieldwork. Fairlight Class observed the traffic flow, problems, encountering pedestrians and sharing their experiences. The improvement of an alleyway was a focal issue many children highlighted as being vital as it was regularly used by many children and parents. The audit undertaken involved children identifying situations where they felt pedestrians were in conflict with motor traffic and recommending solutions. The children carried out a traffic count for the duration of one hour and noted the number of motor vehicles observed during the period of the audit. Whilst this audit was simple and for a short time scale, it enabled the children to identify and relate to their everyday problems within the vicinity of the school, yet sharing and discussing solutions within groups.
It is time for a fresh approach to the safety of child pedestrians. It is clear that there is a physical imbalance between a vehicle and a child (D.o.T., 1996). As the London Transport Activists' Roundtable (London T.A.R.) emphasises, the introduction of S.R.S. schemes is a step forward in the right direction, putting the children first and hence benefiting the whole community. A strategy such as the S.R.S. scheme, especially in the case of Harlesden Primary School, will take place with heavy emphasis on making urban roads, especially residential roads, safer for children. To achieve safer conditions, it can be adhered to in a few ways tackling physical traffic via traffic calming measures, e.g. 20 m.p.h. with legal enforcement, moral pressure on drivers, improved signing, better lighting, improved alleyways, traffic islands. From the dedication, input and feedback from Fairlight Class, Mr.Serai and the Council officers, a proposal will be put forward to Harlesden City Challenge to fund the physical improvements of the scheme.
There are constraints within councils over the powers to develop projects. They are hindered by funding, which lies at the heart of the problem. The resources and finance are essential to carry out a successful project. Within councils the various departments, e.g. planning, environment, transport, often cover issues which are inter-related. This is problematic causing conflict and slowing the progress of projects.
Education is a vital component in the S.R.S. study, developing children's skills via a variety of activities incorporated with the National Curriculum, as Neal & Palmer agree: "it is considered that a variety of approaches should be utilised ¼ task based learning derived from children's spontaneous and direct experiences". A great deal of preliminary work was centred around class discussion and issues/ideas relating to S.R.S. concepts. As the topic developed, it involved a tremendous amount of individual and small group work. Emphasis throughout was on the children's own ideas and discussions. The S.R.S. is an educational learning process providing not just the academic content but the awareness of physical and social development. As Joanna Cleary, Cycle Planning Consultant, rightly highlighted at the Velo-City Conference '95 in Basel ":SRS should be encouraged to set targets to increase the proportion of non-car based pupil journey as part of a green commuter plan". The work produced by Fairlight Class was on display at the parents' open evening on July 16th 1997. With the support and co-operation of the children, teachers, parents and the community we shall strive towards a healthier and safer environment, whereby it will no longer be a dream, it will become reality.
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Acaro, J. (1995) Creating Quality in the Classroom St. Lucie Press.