On Tuesday 26th November, Hilldene Primary School
became the first school in the whole of Havering to take part in the Junior
Community Road Watch Scheme organised by the Metropolitan Police. This scheme
gives primary school pupils the opportunity to take part in speed awareness
programmes in their local community.
Our 12 pupils, all current Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs)
in Year 5 or previous JTAs from Year 6, worked alongside Havering’s Road Safety
Officer and Metropolitan Police Officers (on Straight Road) to help educate
speeding motorists on the importance of road safety.
After any speeding motorists had been identified by the
Police, they were initially stopped and spoken to by the officers. Once those
officers had decided that the motorist was suitable to speak to the children,
they would call over the Road Safety Officer and 2 children to deliver a
combined educational road safety message to the driver.
Among the questions asked by the children were:
- Why were you speeding near our school?
- Do you know how many children go to school in this area?
- Are you aware of the consequences of speeding?
All of the speeding motorists (5 stopped in under 20
minutes) that spoke to the JTAs were affected by their questions, several
seemed close to tears and one gentleman vowed never to speed again in this
area.
Comments from the JTAs after returning to school included –
‘lots more people speed than I thought’ and ‘stick to the speed limit or this
could happen to you.’
Hopefully, this is just the first of many Junior Community
Road Watch Schemes that takes place in our area and across the whole of
Havering.
