ROAD safety is a vitally important lesson that children need to know – and it is the responsibility of parents to reinforce that.
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Friday, May 19, was Walk Safely to School day. The national program is run every year to reinforce the road safety message of walking and commuting safely to school.
Too often students are seen walking alone, not using the pedestrian crossing, walking in the gutter and running behind or in front of a bus.
“It’s about using the pedestrian crossing, holding an older persons hand, getting out of cars safely and off the bus safely,” Tacking Point Public teacher Kate Connolly said.
“We reinforce the road safety messages to our students all of the time. It is a mandatory part of the curriculum.
“The messages get through to the children at a young age, but unfortunately sometimes parents do the wrong thing.”
Newsletters often feature reminders for parents to reinforce the road safety dos and don’ts to their children at home.
“There have been a few near misses where kids are running across the road not at the pedestrian crossing because their parents are beckoning them and they don’t want to get in trouble,” she said.
“Another important conversation parents can have to kids is stranger danger and not to walk alone.”
As part of the school’s promotion for the day, SRC members from year six handed out stickers to students as they arrived to school.