The Council can help you with the following educational and promotional activities:
Walking Promotions
Pedestrian Skills Training
Junior Road Safety Officer Scheme
Cycle Training
Road Safety Education
Promotional Material
Check out our gallery for some illustrations of these schemes….
Children who walk to school get fresh air and exercise to clean their minds – an ideal way to start the day. Children who are driven to school often arrive half asleep! Walking makes you fitter and improves the circulation; doctors recommend at least 30 minutes a day.
You help to reduce pollution caused by traffic fumes in your local area when you walk rather than drive. There are fewer parked cars and less congestion around the school gates, making it safer for children to cross the road.
The majority of accidents involving children do not happen on the way to school. Be sure your child develops good road sense – teach where and when it is safe to cross the road and how to judge the speed of traffic. Walking to school is a wonderful way to teach your child road safety skills that will benefit them throughout their life.
The council currently runs two walking promotion schemes designed to increase walking rates in the borough.
Walk to School Week: this scheme has been running for several years and is a joint program between the London Boroughs of Hounslow, Kingston, Richmond and Merton.
The week is held in the summer term and pupils are encouraged to walk at least some part of their journey everyday. They receive a sticker for each day they walk, which is placed on a special Walk to School Week postcard. Each child that collects five stickers receives a special prize. There is also a calendar competition where children are encouraged to draw pictures inspired by road safety issues – three pupils from each borough win the chance to have their picture printed onto a special walk to school week calendar.
Walking on Wednesday or WoW!: ‘WoW’ is a new nation wide campaign being introduced to schools in Hounslow. It is a simple and flexible scheme which can greatly reduce the number of children who are driven to school regularly and increase the amount of physical activity children take in their every day lives. The scheme asks schools to pledge to be a “WoW” school. A WoW School is one that agrees to promote walking to and from school as the preferred travel choice on a regular basis.
If you would like to find out more about walking initiatives then please contact
Fatima Ahmed
E: fatima.ahmed@hounslow.gov.uk
T: 020 8583 5036
Hounslow Council believes that early education for road safety is extremely important. The Pedestrian Skills Training Co-ordinator delivers a choice of schemes to promote road safety in schools, starting at Nursery all the way through to Year 6.
There is also the Safer Steps Scheme, which is available for Year 1 to Year 4. This scheme involves training 10 volunteers who are already linked to the school and then taking the children out onto the roadside for one hour a week for four weeks.
For more information please contact:
Hayley Lennon
E: hayley.lennon@hounslow.gov.uk
T: 0208 583 5053
Junior Road Safety Officer (JRSO) Scheme
The JRSO scheme is a new program being rolled out by Hounslow Council in collaboration with Transport for London. Pupils in years 5 or 6 can apply to become Junior Road Safety Officers – they will represent the Road Safety team in your school. Practically this will involve:
- Putting up road safety posters
- Assisting in setting, running and judging competitions designed to highlight road safety issues
- Presenting classroom and assembly talks
- Assisting in the running of road safety projects such as cycle training, walk on wednesdays etc
There are plenty of opportunities to link the work of JRSOs in with the curriculum (e.g. writing persuasive letters, presentation skills, artistic projects) and also the new Healthy Schools Criteria (consultation with pupils).
For more information visit the schemes website:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/juniorroadsafety
Or view this powerpoint presentation:
Or contact:
James Hammond
E: James.Hammond@hounslow.gov.uk
T: 0208 583 5052
The council have recently set in place a new cycle training scheme for children called Urban Pedal Pros. The scheme has two levels:
Urban Pedal Pros Level 1: This training introduces children to the basic skills they need to begin riding on the road. They are taught on simulated roads in the school playground. The training normally lasts for 5 days – one hour each day, in small groups, taught by experienced professional tutors. By the end of the course your child will have studied cycling skills that include awareness of other road users, attitudes to safer cycling and some knowledge of the Highway Code, with a written test of 20 questions. They will receive a certificate on completion of the course, which will explain exactly what stage they have reached in each areas of cycling.
Urban Pedal Pros Level 2: This scheme takes small groups of cyclists on roads to experience traffic conditions at first hand and learn the safest ways to deal with those conditions. Depending on the number of students there will be 2 or 3 groups each day, usually on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, cyclists normally receive approximately six hours of training, which can be during (recommended) or after the school day – e.g. a school club.
Every group will have their bikes checked for roadworthiness and a brief assessment on their ability to ride with some degree of confidence. Only then if safety measures are met in full, will they be taken on the roads. There will be opportunities for question, followed by some discussions on the use of maps and route planning; each group will progress at their own level of ability.
The course is run by experienced professional cycling instructors and all training takes place on roads that are local to your School.
Please see our new website www.urbanpedalpros.org.uk which contains further information for children and parents.
You may also want to promote cycle training for your staff. Our popular adult training scheme City Cycling caters for all levels of cyclists from complete beginners to those wishing to get more experience on busy roads and roundabouts etc. Visit our website www.citycycling.org.uk for more information.
For more information please contact:
Susan Guichard
E: susan.guichard@hounslow.gov.uk
T: 0208 583 5039
The council have outsourced our nursery and primary phase road safety education to Debra the Zebra who is available to visit schools throughout the year to discuss road safety issues. To book a visit from Debra please contact:
Fatima Ahmed
E: fatima.ahmed@hounslow.gov.uk
T: 020 8583 5036
We have a wide selection of promotional and educational materials to help support your schemes in schools – from large ‘WoW’ banners, to colouring books and videos and informational pamphlets. If you have an idea for some promotional material get in touch – if we haven’t already got something chances are we now how to get it!
