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SAFELY TO SCHOOL: A STUDY OF SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOL IN THE CLASSROOM

CHAPTER ONE the study

INTRODUCTION

1.1 This report presents findings from a seven-month study of the place of Safer Routes to School (SRTS) in the school curriculum in Scotland. It was commissioned by The Scottish Executive Development Department in January 2003 and conducted by the Scottish Council for Research in Education Centre (SCRE) and ODS. The study comprised three distinct phases: first, a review of previous research on road safety; second a survey of all 32 local authorities; and third, a more detailed investigation into the implementation of SRTS in six case study schools. This report draws together the main findings from the study and highlights a number of issues which have implications for Safer Routes to School and other road safety initiatives.

Background

1.2 One of the main aims of the Scottish Executive is to deliver a sustainable, effective and integrated transport system. In Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government (1999), the Executive made a commitment to 'build an integrated transport system, which meets our economic and social needs but does not threaten the health of the environment' (p.15). It recognized the roles which motorists, cyclists and pedestrians could play in the development of this integrated system. An allocation was made to local authorities so that they might make improvements to the physical environment, for instance by installing new crossings, and creating new footpaths and cycle ways, in order to encourage more children to walk or cycle to school. The Safer Routes to School initiative sits within this general framework of integrated transport, and also within a context in which the percentage of children who walk to school has declined rapidly since 1972.

The research project

1.3 The overarching aim of this study was to review the Safer Routes to School in the Classroom initiative, by local authority area. In particular the project examined:

The effectiveness of SRTS work in the school curriculum in local authorities in Scotland; and

The extent to which Scottish Executive funding has helped local authorities develop the concept of SRTS in the school curriculum, and how the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets Fund (CWSS) allocation could influence future developments at a local authority level.

Research questions

1.4 The study addressed a number of research questions, which may conveniently be grouped under the following broad headings:

Questions related to attitudes and experiences of local authorities and the activities they have undertaken to implement road safety for children and young people.

Questions related to practices in road safety at school level.

Questions related to the attitudes of other stakeholders, such as children and young people, parents/guardians, community and other agencies.

Questions related to the further development of the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets Fund (CWSS), and in particular, how it may be more effectively targeted.

Design and methods

1.5 The research comprised a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, ranging from a postal survey of local authorities to in-depth interviews at school level. Information was collected in three phases:

1.6 Phase 1 entailed a review of previous research on the implementation of road safety initiatives with children and young people, and sensitising interviews with a small number of key informants. Five key informants, identified with the help of the project advisory group, were interviewed in depth (see Appendix 2).

1.7 Phase 2 was a survey of all 32 local authorities in Scotland in order to identify: the engineering work and curriculum activities they had undertaken under the auspices of Safer Routes to School; how they allocated financial and management responsibility for children's road safety; and the extent to which these had been evaluated. Questionnaires were sent to:

all Directors of Education (32)
all Directors of Transport (32); and
all Road Safety Units listed on the website of the Scottish Road Safety Campaign (22).

1.8 Respondents were advised of these multiple mailings and were encouraged to collaborate and return one response per authority. Reminder letters and questionnaires were sent to seven School Travel Co-ordinators in the seven local authorities which had not replied within two weeks, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of activities across Scotland. The distribution of questionnaire returns is shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1.1: Distribution of local authority questionnaire returns

* Returns labelled 'other' are from departments named 'Development Services', 'Strategy and Design', 'Commercial and Technical Services', and 'Technical Services' whose remit is unclear from their title.

1.9 Responses were obtained from all but one very small local authority. Most (22) questionnaires were returned from the departments to which they had been addressed; others had clearly been forwarded between departments or organisations.

1.10 Phase 3 of the study explored examples of good practice for SRTS work in six case study schools (four primary and two secondary). They represented schools in rural, urban and suburban areas, local authorities and schools of varying size, and schools where there was evidence of recent SRTS activity. These provided detailed insights into the processes involved in developing SRTS measures in schools and the factors which support or inhibit developments. Each case study involved:

Interviews (in-depth, face-to-face, or telephone) with:

• a nominated teacher with responsibility for co-ordinating Safer Routes to School and similar initiatives.
• school board or parent association representative. (In one school a focus group was conducted with the school Road Safety Team which included parents, school janitor, and others involved with the school and travel to school/road safety issues.)
• local Road Safety Officer.

Pupil focus groups (with groups of P6 and P7 pupils in each primary school, and S1 and S2/3 pupils in each secondary school).

Parental/carer survey of 30-50 parents chosen at random from pupils in upper primary and lower secondary school classes in each of the six case study schools. The completed questionnaire was returned directly to SCRE using a post-paid reply envelope.

Examining documentation relevant to each school's Safer Routes to School/travel to school/road safety measures.

Analysis

1.11 The overall framework for the analysis was provided by the research questions indicated in 1.4 above. The framework was sufficiently flexible to allow modification where necessary, in the light of emerging information from each phase of the research, and from discussions with the Scottish Executive and the Advisory Group members. Bibliographical software (Endnote) was used to organise the literature search and analysis. Survey responses were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to determine frequencies, cross tabulations and other significant associations. Interviews were recorded both by notes and by tape. Qualitative information was analysed thematically by respondent group, from notes, and drawing on partial transcriptions for clarification and illustration.

The report

1.12 This final report is designed to be as concise and readable as possible. It comprises seven chapters of which this introduction is the first.

Chapter 1 introduces the study and outlines the aims, questions and methods.

Chapter 2 sets the study in the context of findings from previous published research on children's road safety.

Chapter 3 indicates the particular challenges which face road safety initiatives for children in Scotland.

Chapter 4 presents an overview of the ways in which local authorities are attempting to implement SRTS.

Chapter 5 gives insights into how the initiatives are working at school level.

Chapter 6 describes the role of parents in these initiatives.

Finally, in Chapter 7, we draw out the main conclusions and implications for SRTS.

Additional information is provided in the appendices.

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