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SAFELY TO SCHOOL: A STUDY OF SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOL IN THE CLASSROOM
Executive summary
Introduction
1. The issue of road safety is currently the focus of much activity by the Scottish Executive, local authorities, schools, the police and various interest groups. It is also a prime concern for parents. This report presents the findings from a seven-month study of one such initiative - the Safer Routes to School (SRTS) project - and examines the ways in which it has been integrated into the school curriculum. The research was commissioned in January 2003 by the Scottish Executive Development Department and undertaken by a team from the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) Centre and ODS. This summary draws together the main findings and implications for Safer Routes and other road safety initiatives.
The Wider International Picture
2. A survey of the international literature revealed that a range of complex inter-related factors and processes affect children's vulnerability to road accidents. Important variables include the child's age, gender and level of social disadvantage. Previous research suggests that initiatives should:
Be multifaceted;
Include changes to the physical environment;
Take account of the fact that road safety is perceived to have a low value amongst secondary school pupils and their teachers;
Use high quality resources;
Include attempts to change young people's behaviour as well as their awareness and knowledge; and
Be based upon relevant content, which is related to the wider school curriculum, delivered by trained teachers, and based upon a school travel plan.
Challenges Facing Road Safety Education in Scotland
3. Interviews with a small number of key informants suggest that:
There are a growing number of road safety initiatives at local and national levels.
There is a shared view about what constitutes good practice.
There is a general lack of awareness about initiatives, which leads to duplication of efforts.
There is a need to integrate Safer Routes to School within the curriculum, train teachers appropriately, involve pupils in the design of projects and ensure that projects are sustainable.
What are Local Authorities Doing?
4. Responses from 31 local authorities to a survey of their road safety practices indicate that:
30 local authorities are or have been involved in Safer Routes to School projects.
Local authority roads/transport departments usually have the main responsibility for the management and budgets for SRTS.
Local authorities spend more money on engineering/infrastructure related to road safety than they do on road safety curriculum initiatives.
26 local authorities have appointed or plan to appoint School Travel Co-ordinators.
20 local authorities provide literature and/or resources to schools to support SRTS.
Only 6 local authorities evaluated their SRTS projects.
It is good practice to include pupils and parents, and relate curriculum developments to local engineering work.
How are Schools Responding?
5. A detailed study of six case study schools (four primary and two secondary) provided a picture of Safer Routes to School activities in a selection of Scottish locations.
Schools have responded in a variety of ways to the challenge of integrating road safety into the school curriculum.
Teachers report that road safety projects must compete for time in the curriculum with other priorities.
Teachers believe that the pressures of lack of time and parental support affect the efficacy of Safer Routes within the curriculum.
Pupils report participating in a variety of road safety activities at school. These include: puzzles, questionnaires, project work, input at assemblies, cycling proficiency training, publicity events such as 'Walk to school' days, leaflets, stickers, and police/lollipop person visits.
Generally pupils thought that the content of road safety education was interesting.
Secondary school pupils thought that road safety was more relevant to younger pupils because 'they need it more than we do'.
Most pupils prefer interactive approaches to learning and teaching about road safety, such as discussion, drama, role-play, theatre tours, experiential learning, and project-based work, and were highly critical of didactic approaches.
Teachers believe that the key success factors are: committed individuals, accessible and active support services (eg from Road Safety Officers/Units), and clear local policies.
What Can Parents Do?
6. A survey of a sample of parents in the six case study schools revealed that:
74% of parents report that their children walk to school often.
48% of parents thought that cars were a very safe mode of transport for children to use to travel to school: this was more than for any other way of getting to and from school.
90% of parents identified busy roads and fast traffic as the most important problems faced by children travelling to school.
Over 50% of parents expressed concerns about wider safety issues related to assaults, bullying, street lighting and possible abductions.
Nearly all parents (98%) accepted their responsibility to educate their children in road safety.
99% thought that road safety should be introduced when children were aged between 5 and 7 years old.
Some believe that children should be encouraged to take more responsibility for their own road safety by teaching them to walk or cycle safely to school.
7. Finally, despite their general willingness to take the major responsibility for their child's road safety, it is clear that parents expect local authorities, the police, schools and other road users to play a part. In particular they want more active traffic management, and other parents to behave responsibly by reducing their driving speed and refraining from parking or dropping children off near the school.
Conclusions and Implications
8. A number of important issues emerge from this research which have implications for the way local authorities and schools develop road safety. Our findings confirm that:
9. Practices vary: Local authorities spend varying amounts of money on road safety and locate responsibility for it in different departments. Local authorities and schools also employ a variety of strategies to implement road safety. The most successful appear to be based upon co-operation between roads/transport and education departments so that local engineering/infrastructural changes are linked to curriculum developments in schools.
10. Certain schools are more interested in road safety: It was generally reported that primary schools are more interested in road safety than secondary schools. This may be entirely appropriate given the need to introduce road safety to young children, but appropriate and targeted road safety education is required at all stages.
11. Perceptions of danger: There was some evidence to show that perceptions of danger vary according to the location of the school and the age and gender of the child. Those schools involved in School Travel Plans and SRTS were more interested in promoting walking and tended to ignore cycling. Few pupils report cycling to school.
12. Commitment of schools: All the case study schools reported that they were fully committed to SRTS, and this view was confirmed by local Road Safety Officers and School Board personnel.
13. Competing priorities: Unfortunately, all informants indicated that road safety had to compete at school level with other curricular priorities and pressures. Lack of time in what was perceived to be an already crowded curriculum, and lack of support from parents, were frequently cited factors, which affected the efficacy of road safety education.
14. Support and resources: Teachers welcome support from local authorities, well-designed resources, and expert input, e.g. the police, Road Safety Officers. Some resources, such as ' Streetsense' are currently being developed by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign. However, a number of informants think that there is a need to provide teachers with further appropriate training so that they can integrate SRTS within the 5-14 curriculum or Personal and Social Education in secondary schools.
15. Changing children's behaviour is difficult: The literature recognises that a complex set of factors affect children's ability to behave safely on their routes to and from school. All accept that changing children's behaviour is difficult and is unlikely to be achieved by programmes which merely target awareness and attitudes.
16. Supportive infrastructures: Safer Routes to School projects appear to have more impact and sustainability when there is a supporting school and local authority infrastructure (such as School Safety Teams) which involves a range of key partners, and enthusiastic and motivated individuals and groups in key positions who will champion SRTS.
17. Integrated projects: Those involved in our study stressed that SRTS projects that involve a curricular, classroom-based content are more likely to be accepted by teachers and maintained if their design is closely related to the 5-14 curriculum, and provides appropriate assessment procedures, accessible resources and teacher guidance.
18. The role of parents: All agree that parents have a crucial role to play in SRTS as educators and role models. Not only do they often determine how a child will travel to and from school but most also accept that they have the primary responsibility for their child's safety. It is imperative to engage with parents, demonstrate to them that integrated traffic management approaches are being taken to eliminate unsafe behaviour by other parents, and allay their fears about the speed and volume of road traffic, and the wider dangers of bullying, assaults and abductions.
19. Input from pupils: Most informants recognised that children and young people should be involved in the development of SRTS initiatives and in the peer education of younger children. Young people themselves indicated that they prefer inter-active approaches to road safety education.
20. Monitoring and evaluation: Only six local authorities reported that they had undertaken evaluations of SRTS projects. We believe that evidence should be collected to show which initiatives are most effective and, if possible, the impact on road accident statistics.
Recommendations
21. We think that SRTS could more effectively be integrated into schools across Scotland if:
- Local authority transport and education departments co-operated in the planning and organisation of SRTS projects within their authority to ensure that engineering infrastructure is informed by, and also supports, curricular developments;
- Local authorities and schools shared examples of good practice in road safety;
- Schools established targets for embedding SRTS in their school development plans;
- Headteachers and School Boards made more efforts to inform parents of SRTS and engage them in its activities;
- Parents demonstrated appropriate behaviour, especially regarding driving and parking near to schools;
- Teachers were offered school-based training to help them integrate SRTS resources in their lesson plans;
- Account was taken of pupils' views, especially their preference for experiential learning; and finally
- All local authorities be encouraged to monitor and evaluate their SRTS activities.
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