The class first of all familiarised themselves with the situation around the school and then applied this enhanced awareness to considering how it might be possible, in a small village with a new through road, to make the school route safer for pupils in Year 1.
The first phase involved familiarisation with the environment. The students drew a plan of the school surroundings as far as the bus turning loop. What they noticed was that, first of all, the footpath does not provide a safe route to school for the pupils and that, furthermore, drivers do not observe the speed limit of 30 km/h. On the basis of these findings, the class played out a range of potential scenarios to help them learn the correct way to behave. The children also familiarised themselves with all the traffic signs, researching their meanings and drawing them as part of their homework. This led on to their subsequent idea, which was to work in and alongside the bus to outline the situation to pupils in Year 1, to explain to them how to behave in road traffic and, by so doing, to prepare them for their own individual journey to school. The new road outside the school was also made safer with footprint markings that show the safest place to cross the road, as well as with a clear road sign. Implementation of the project was undertaken by the students, who wrote letters to the local authority and mayor, backed up by drawings and maps. They also created a road safety manual for the new school intake.
