Coundon Primary School - This is The North East

Education 200313Toddlers in controlWHEN it comes to roadsafety, they believe instarting them young inRedcar and Cleveland.The borough received nationalmedia attention last year when itbecame home to the world’s firstpolice-approved driving school fortoddlers.Potential boy-racers aged just fourand five-years-old were putthrough their paces in toy cars.Police and safety officersintroduced the one-hour drivinglessons because of theproliferation of model cars – whichcan cost up to £500 – and reportsthey were being taken out on theroads by daredevil youngsters.Redcar and Cleveland BoroughCouncil mascot Spike theHedgehog joined police andcouncil road safety officers to getthe message across.The driving lessons are only one ofthe innovative campaignsintroduced by the authority tokeep youngsters safe.The council employs SaferJourneys To School Co-ordinatorJanet Easley to work inpartnership with schools in theborough and encourage them toproduce School Travel plans.The aims of the plans can beindividually tailored to suit theneeds of each school, but all willhave themes centred aroundreducing the number of carjourneys to and from school,encouraging the use of sustainabletransport, such as walking orcycling, and educating pupils torecognise and use their safestroute to school.Wilton Primary in Lazenby, ParkLane Infants in Guisborough, StMary’s RC Primary in South Bank,Skelton Juniors in Skelton andCoatham Primary in Redcar haveproduced School Travel Plans.Janet has also worked on twomajor Safer Routes to Schoolprojects at Ravensworth JuniorSchool and Bankfields PrimarySchool.The authority also provides cycletrainingcourses, includingpedestrian training – a week’splayground-based course on basiccycling skills, culminating in atest which carries a certificate andbadge if successful.For more information on roadsafety, contact Mike Hall or RonGomer on (01642) 444753.Learning is poetry in motionDARLINGTON’S schoolchildren over the past twoyears have been activelywriting poetry, watching plays,performing in workshops anddesigning posters, leaflets, (evenparking tickets!) all in an effort tolearn the rules of the road.Road safety can be integrated in allaspects of the curriculum and aspecial resources centre has beenset up to help any grown up(teacher, childminder, Guider,Scouter, parent) help get messagesacross to young children in theircare.Road safety shouldn’t be just theannual reminder from the Tufty orGreen Cross Code Man. For roadsafety to have a lasting, livingimpression, it needs to be doneevery day, if possible in a fun orinteresting way.Most children ‘learn what they live’.Most learn by imitating grown-ups.What will your child learn today?Driving lessons: Robby Allday and Johnny Whiteside at the world’s firstpolice-approved driving school for toddlersChantelle Harrison and JanineCrawford wrote the following poemduring a poetry day held in DodmireSchool after hearing the poetBernard Young read his poems tothem.When you get out of bed, Always useyour head.Use your brains, use your brains.On Monday morning I went toschool,I also acted like a fool.On Tuesday morning I crossed theroad,And just missed a heavy load.Use your brains, use your brains.On Wednesday morning I said ta-raAnd just missed a speeding car.On Thursday I was hit by a lorry,Then I was really, really sorry.Use your brain, use your brain.On Friday I learned my lesson,In future I won’t be messin’.Stop Look. Listen Live.That’s the rule. Yeah! Yeah!PracticalexperienceWENTY primary schools inMiddlesborough are now takingTpart in an exciting new ChildPedestrian Training Scheme.After twice successfully bidding forgovernment funding, Middlesboroughcouncil has appointed two ChildPedestrian Training Scheme Co-Ordinators, who work with five andsix-year-old children, taking them outof school for practical roadsidetraining sessions.They are helped at each school byspecially-trained parent volunteers.The training is based on the‘Kerbcraft’ model designed by a teamofpsychologists at the University ofStrathclyde and first trialed inDrumchapel, an area of Glasgow withsome of the highest child-pedestriancasualty figures in Europe.The trial lasted two years andproduced a significant reduction inthose figures. The children aretaught, over12 weeks, how to find somewhere safeto cross and how to cross bothbetween parked cars and at junctionswhen they have to.Five Middlesborough primary schoolshave already completed the trainingwith approximately 200 childrenreceiving certificates. Ten furtherschools are currently participating inthe scheme.The training does not mean that thechildren are safe to cross the road bythemselves and they should still beaccompanied by an adult when theycross, however it is hoped that‘Kerbcraft’ training will provide thechildren with the necessary skills tobecome safe pedestrians in thefuture. For more information on the‘Kerbcraft’ scheme please contactMiddlesborough Council Road SafetySection on 01642 728284 or 728232.calling all youngpoetswho is your hero?SCHOOL pupils across the regionare being asked to put pen to paperto celebrate their own North-EastHero – and win a prize for theirschool.It’s all part of this year’s GreatNorth Poetry Competition now in itssecond year and supported by theOrange Writing initiative, PoetryEmotion and The Northern Echo.Part of the competition isdedicated to young poets andcelebrates the depth of talentamong young would-be poets.This year’s theme is North-EastHeroes, people who have made alasting impression on the writer.“We wanted to keep a regionalfocus on the subject for the poems,”explained Ian Brown of PoetryEmotion. “However, a hero doesn’thave to be someone famous, it canbe someone known to the writerwho has made a lasting positiveimpression on their life or who hasinfluenced them in some way. But,for the purposes of the competition,the hero does have to come fromthe North-East.”Last year’s competition drew afantastic response from the region’syoungsters and this year it promisesto be better than ever.The project is being supported byOrange Writing, an initiative thataims to increase awareness of, andparticipation in, all forms of popularliterature and creative writing.“The North-East has a strongidentity rich in culture and heritage,”explained Maureen Dixon, RegionalPR Manager at Orange. “A strongpart of this is its people, famous andnot so famous, who have made theNorth-East the great place it is.“Often it can be daunting if you’reasked to write a short story or anovel. However, many more peopleare prepared to try writing a poemWinner of last years under 18’s competition,Mohammad Niknafs, age 10, from GosforthMiddle Schooland find this easier to try than otherforms of writing.”Some fantastic prizes are up forgrabs for the winner and theirschool. Local published poetsPauline Hughes and Valerie Laws,who also teach at the University ofNorthumbria, have agreed to judgethe competition.They will hold poetry workshopsessions for the winner’s school.The winner will also receive £100worth of book vouchers.All entries will be posted on theOrange Writing, Poetry Emotion andNorthern Echo websites.In addition, the winning poems,plus a selection of some of the bestentries, will also be published in TheNorthern Echo.The competition runs from September 22 untilOctober 31, 2003. Poems can be submitted in anumber of ways. Online via the Orange Writingwebsite www.OrangeWriting.com or atPoetryemotion@ntlworld.com or by post to NickMorrison atThe Northern Echo, PO Box 14, Priestgate,Darlington DL1 1NF.Rules of Entry for Under 18 CategoryYour poem must be about a North-East HeroPoems may be a maximum of 20 lines longPoems must be typedPoems must be the original work of the entrantPoems must be unpublished workJudging will be carried out by poets Pauline Hughes andValerie LawsWritten manuscripts cannot be returnedCorrespondence cannot be entered into concerning thedecisions of the judgesClosing date is Friday October 31, 2003