As parents and children around the country prepare for the start of the school year, the Road Safety Authority and ESB have announced the distribution of 80,000 high visibility vests to every child starting school this September.
The RSA Back to School pack will be sent to every primary and secondary school in September, it will contain high visibility vests; ‘Going to School’ leaflets for junior infants entering education, a parents’ guide to getting children to school safety; Safe Cross Code CD together with a poster with the words of the Safe Cross Code song to be taught in the classroom; Let’s Go, a resource which provides the relevant school authorities in primary and secondary schools with information on how to be road safety aware when organising or travelling to school events; and School News newsletter.
Noel Brett, CEO, RSA, reminded parents to demonstrate good road safety behaviour to their children at all times: “It’s not just the practical additions to the back to school list that are important – parents and guardians should make a real effort to demonstrate good road safety behaviour at all times as your child will learn from your example,” he said. “So if your child walks or cycles to school, take them on the route in advance and make sure they know where they are going. If they travel by car or bus, make sure they know how important it is to put their seatbelt on at all times.”
Mr Brett also had a message for teachers and urged them to make road safety a key part of their lesson plan: “We would ask teachers to consider including a road safety lesson from the RSA’s road safety resources in their classes. At secondary level we have a Junior Cycle resource called Streetwise and there is also a programme for transition year called Your Road to Safety. For both primary and secondary schools, there’s a new resource called ‘Let’s Go’ which can be used in conjunction with existing road safety resources.”
