Make ‘Small Journeys’ safe journeys for Child Safety Week
PARENTS across Lancashire are being urged to think about ways to keep their children safe with the start of national Child Safety Week on 18 June.
The week is highlighting the different dangers that children face and how these can be avoided. Lancashire County Council’s Road Safety Group is focusing on keeping children safe on the roads and has launched Small Journeys, an educational guide for pre-school leaders and health visitors.
The Small Journeys guide is split into two resources, a handy A5 booklet for health visitors and a guide aimed at pre-school care providers.
The information-packed road safety guide for playschools, childminders and nurseries includes information on pedestrian safety, safer outings with children, child car seats, being seen and much more. It also features A3 pictorial aids that can be used to teach road safety themes such as ‘Stop’, ‘Holding Hands’ and ‘Looking and Listening’.
The guide has been piloted by childcare establishments in the county. Suzanne Cockshott from the Family Tree Centre, Brierfield said: “The pack was perfect for the children, as it was just on their level. With the brightly coloured pictures the children thoroughly enjoyed looking at them and got very engrossed in the activities. The pack gave us the opportunity to really think about how the children decipher road safety messages.”
The health visitors’ guide can be used as a toolkit for them to share with prospective and new parents. It includes passenger and child pedestrian safety as well as advice on the use of seatbelts in pregnancy.
Sue Greenwood, a Senior Manager in North Lancashire PCT, said: “Health visitors have vital early contact with families and Small Journeys is a really helpful resource for them to be able to discuss with parents.”
Clare Farrer, Deputy Group Manager said: “Road traffic accidents are
the leading cause of child fatalities. Small Journeys is an innovative new guide
which will help parents and young children learn about road safety issues in
an exciting way. We hope that by using this resource road safety awareness will
be a way of life for children from a young age. By involving parents this helps
the messages to be reinforced at home.”
Small Journeys is part of the Journeys series of resources. The first to be
launched, Primary Journeys, is currently used in 350 primary schools and Secondary
Journeys is due to be launched later in the year.
If you are based in Lancashire and would like more information or to request
a copy of Small Journeys please call: (01772) 531048 or email: roadsafety@env.lancscc.gov.uk
