Road safety takes centre stage for Torbay kids

A new drive to help school children across Torbay become more road-wise is underway using a specially designed road safety lesson. 

Commissioned by Torbay Council, the lesson was designed by Taleblazers who are part of the Torbay Arts in Schools Network. 

Almost 1000 children aged between 9 and 11 years-old have taken part in the lesson since July 2023, which saw them discuss what hazards they might come across when using the roads and how they can keep themselves safe.

The half-day interactive lesson was delivered using conversation, drawing and drama, ending with a performance using road safety scenario cards.

Barton Hill Academy in Torquay was the final school to benefit from the lesson and were joined by Vision Zero South West. As part of their learning the children got the opportunity to work with officers from the Police and Fire Service, before exploring some of the emergency vehicles.

Each child from Barton Hill Academy that took part in the lesson were provided with a reflective and flashing band to wear on their journeys to and from school over the darker winter months.

All children from the nine schools that took part in the lesson were asked to share their feedback, including who they would like to perform their road safety short play too. Some big ideas were generated, which included performing to the King Charles III in London, as well to family members and younger siblings.

Cllr Adam Billings, Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Pride in Place, Culture & Events and Parking, said; “In 2022, we saw a reduction in the number of casualties on Torbay’s roads. Figures for 2022 show there were 229 reported casualties compared with 295 in 2021. As road users we all play a vital part in ensuring that number keeps reducing.

“Educating young road users is an important part of our work in making sure Torbay’s roads are safe for all road users, but especially young pedestrians as they start to make more solo journeys.

“It has been fantastic to see how the children have engaged in the lesson and we hope they share their learning with their peers and have conversations about how important it is to be alert and responsible on our roads with their parents and carers.

“We are exploring how we can role this lesson out more widely across Torbay to reach more young road users.”

Richard Blagdon from Taleblazers, said; “The children have loved learning about road safety in these fun and active workshops, they’ve encouraged and supported each other throughout each of the discussions and tasks. It has been wonderful for us to be able to deliver road safety in such a creative and artistic way and to receive such enthusiastic, energetic responses from the children.”