On
Tuesday 26th November last year, 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.
On
Wednesday 29th January 2020, members of the Metropolitan Police, as
well as Local Community Police Officers and Havering’s Road Safety Officer,
returned to Straight Road to carry out a second Junior Road Watch Scheme with
our current Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs) in Year 5 and our previous JTAs
from Year 6.
Once
again, after any speeding motorists had been identified by the Police, they
were initially stopped and spoken to by the officers. The officers then decided
whether or not each motorist was suitable to speak to the children. At this
point, they would call over the Road Safety Officer and 2 or 3 children to
deliver a combined educational road safety message to the driver.
Similar
questions were asked again by the children, including:
- Why were you speeding right next to our school?
- Do you know how many children go to the 2 schools on this road?
- Are you aware of the consequences of speeding?
On
the last occasion, 5 motorists were stopped in under 20 minutes for speeding
and had to face questions from our JTAs. This time, 6 motorists were caught for
speeding, again in under 20 minutes, and were asked to answer questions
relating to the dangers of exceeding 30mph in areas including local schools.
We are still the only school in Havering to organise any Junior
Road Watch initiatives, but hopefully after the success of our pilot scheme,
many other schools in the local area and Havering will start to become
involved.
