The Scottish Government

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

1. In October 2007 the Scottish Government and Road Safety Scotland commissioned Colin Buchanan, in association with RSN Associates, to review the existing S1/S2 Personal and Social Development ( PSD) Road Safety Education Resource ¹ and provide recommendations on how to update and improve the materials.

2. The S1/S2 PSD Road Safety Education Resource was launched in April 2002. It was intended that the resource follow the guidelines outlined in 5-14 curriculum (levels D and E) and that the activities set out in the resource link to road safety attainment targets. Every school in Scotland was supplied with a hard-back folder containing activity sheets, teachers' notes and materials related to the play 'The Nine Lives of Roddy Hogg' ².

3. This review focused on:

• The uptake of the resource among Scottish secondary schools over the previous two years.
• How schools are using the resource.
• The reasons for any differences in uptake or use of the resource.
• How the resource complements other existing road safety education resources.
• The attitudes and opinions of Road Safety Officers ( RSO), teachers and pupils regarding the existing resource.
• Developing recommendations for an updated resource for the S1/S2 age group, based on the research findings.

4. The research also included analysis of road accident casualty data involving children of school age, which is presented in an annex to the main report.

Methodology

5. A research exercise was undertaken to investigate the content of the existing S1/S2 PSD Road Safety Education Resource and the context of its use, and to establish attitudes and perceptions of teachers, pupils and RSOs. There were a number of different elements to the research:

• A desktop review of road safety education resources.
• An analysis of road accident data involving school age children.
• A postal survey was issued to all Scottish schools educating pupils in the S1/S2 age group. The survey was composed of five questions designed to elicit key quantitative facts regarding the level of uptake, use and effectiveness of the resource. The survey generated 150 responses from mainstream schools (out of 436) and 14 from special schools (out of 114). This represents a relatively low sample of schools, therefore whilst the analysis provides an indication of use and opinions, the findings cannot be generalised with confidence to the wider school population
• Semi-structured telephone interview with 36 teachers, to gather comprehensive qualitative information from teachers about the use and effectiveness of the resource.
• Sixteen focus groups with pupils from 8 schools, to investigate pupils' perspectives on the resource.
• Three consultation workshops involving 20 Road Safety Officers, to examine their views and how the resource fits in with other road safety activities.

Key findings

6. The key findings are as follows:

Uptake and use of the resource

• Road safety formed part of the Personal and Social Education ( PSE) curriculum in about two thirds of the schools surveyed.
• With the exception of the Roddy Hogg play, the existing resource materials are not widely used. The majority of schools surveyed indicated that they had never used any of the activities.
• In the most recent academic year (2006-2007), one third of the schools surveyed had seen the Roddy Hogg play.
• The majority of use of the S1/S2 PSD road safety education resource materials is in S1 classes rather than S2.

Content and format of the resource

• Although the road safety topics in the resource are varied, the activities tend to follow a similar format and were worksheet based.
• The resource makes limited use of technology or multi-media approaches.
• The teaching ideas provided in the Roddy Hogg support material are best used if pupils have seen the play, which limits their use in schools that have not received the play.

Opinions on the Resource

• Teachers, pupils and Road Safety Officers felt that any road safety education resource for S1/S2 should be clearly different from road safety education in primary school and in the upper secondary school.
• The general feeling from teachers, pupils and RSOs is that the resource is not sufficiently challenging for older pupils. They felt that there should be progression in content from S1 to S2, and that distinct activities should be developed to meet the needs of both S1 and S2.
• The general feeling amongst teachers from the 14 special schools who responded to the survey was that the S1/S2 PSD road safety education resource was not appropriate for pupils with special education needs.
• Teachers, pupils and Road Safety Officers suggested that any new road safety education resource should include a choice of active learning classroom activities and should use up-to-date technology. There was a positive response for the development of a DVD.

Recommendations for Resource Development

7. The findings of the study were assessed to provide an evidence-based set of recommendations for the future development of the resource. The key recommendations are as follows:

• Develop a new road safety education resource for S1/S2 with the focus on PSE (personal and social education), but allow reference to the role that health and wellbeing plays across the curriculum.
• Any new road safety education resource for S1/S2 should be clearly different from road safety education in primary school and upper secondary school. It should complement and not compete with existing road safety education resources.
• Devise activities specifically developed for S1, with particular reference to their first term of secondary school. Devise distinct activities for S2 that extend their knowledge and encourage active involvement in decision making.
• Develop a resource that utilises modern technology, but incorporate active learning experiences that are not dependent on technology for their delivery.
• Ensure that any new road safety education resource is not intrinsically linked to a Theatre in Education production, but allow for some thematic linking to reinforce messages.
• Continue with the existing Theatre in Education road safety production (the Roddy Hogg play), but look to updating this in the future.
• Consider how awareness of the resource can be raised in schools and make use of existing professional education networks to inform teachers.

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