Road safety initiative at rural schools

Road safety initiative at rural schools

28 October 2020

NEWRY, Mourne and Down Council has teamed up with police to inform primary school pupils how they can keep safe keep safe living in rural communities.

Staff from the council’s Downpatrick, Rowallane and Slieve Croob district electoral areas were joined by members of the PSNI’s neighbourhood policing teams on recent visits to six schools.

They were St Nicholas’ PS in Ardglass, St Mary’s PS in nearby Dunsford, St Joseph’s PS and Glasswater PS in Crossgar, Holy Family PS in Teconnaught and St Mary’s PS in Aughlisnafin.

During conversations with pupils, the emphasis was on the danger of traffic, how to keep safe on the road and how to encourage parents to practice safe driving at the school gates. 

Council chairwoman Laura Devlin said highlighting the importance of road safety in rural communities was imperative. 

“A lot of our rural schools are located in areas with no speed limit or one that is not always adhered to, putting children’s lives in danger,” she said.

“This has been an excellent road safety project that not only allows our young people to identify these dangers, but also raises parent’s awareness on how they should approach the school gates safely.”

Following a presentation from the PSNI, the young people were asked to design a poster on what they had learnt from the officers, with the chair and vice-chair of weach of the three DEA Forums choosing a number of winners from each school. 

The lucky winners — who got to see their posters depicted on a new banner provided by the DEAs and displayed at the school gates —  also received a voucher for their local cinema.