The challenge
Education is seen by the Department for Transport as a key strategy for the reduction of the number of children and young people who are killed and seriously injured on the roads. EdComs Consultancy and Research teams developed a new education strategy, from which a new road safety education programme of teaching resources was developed to:
• provide up to date, engaging materials that are tailored appropriately to the broad age range
• complement whole-school approaches to travel, sustainability and risk education
• drive attitudinal and behaviour change in children aged 3 to 16 in England and Wales
• tie in with above-the-line advertising campaigns.
Our approach
The education strategy scoped out a number of topics, themes and activities which were developed into engaging online resources for pupils and teachers in primary schools and early years settings. EdComs Programme Development team worked with our authors, consultants and developers to create the Think! Education website.
The curriculum-linked materials cover the following key road safety topics:
• Traffic recognition
• Crossing the road
• Be Bright, Be seen
• Cycle safety
• In-car safety.
An illustrative style was created to reflect the Tales of the Road advertising campaign and which could be used across the 3 to 11 years age range.
Among the highlights are the filmed mini-dramas about young road users who didn't behave appropriately, reflecting on the consequences of their actions. The site also contains stories and games such as Crash scene investigation, Snakes and hazards and Mr Lumpy's journey, created to engage even the youngest children in these key safety messages.
Accompanying print materials such as booklets, posters, worksheets, teachers' notes and parent information can be ordered from the online catalogue.
Outcomes
Site visits are continuing to grow every month in term time since launch in April 2009, reaching over 9,000 visitors in September 2009. The Department for Transport has involved EdComs in the further development of its broader communication strategies and the educational strategies and resources of its partner organisations, and we are currently producing a resource for out-of-school groups, and starting the development of materials for secondary schools for launch in September 2010.
Services
Media
Clients
"Producing an education website and related print materials was a stiff learning curve for me, as my expertise is in producing road safety advertising campaigns. EdComs has made my foray into the world of primary education a relatively painless encounter, because of EdComs' experience, dedication and help throughout the procedure. Our primary materials are up-to-date and challenging for the pupils, parents and teachers alike. I am looking forward to producing the lower primary materials, out of school activity pack and secondary materials with my team at EdComs during the next year."
Campaign Manager, Department for Transport
