Primary school children from across County Durham have been getting creative in a bid to warn others about road safety.

The county’s kids have been performing raps and reciting Shakespeare-style sonnets to get across important messages about wearing seatbelts and pedestrian and cycle safety.

The children have been taking part in the Junior Road Safety Officer (JRSO) scheme, a national road safety education project that encourages peer-to-peer learning.

The JRSO scheme – run in County Durham by Durham County Council’s road safety team – recruits kids as Junior Road Safety Officers. The kids then pass on safety tips to other pupils by speaking in assemblies, running competitions and campaigns, and organising colourful noticeboards.

The Junior Officers have also been helping with the council’s Slow to 20 for Safer Streets campaign.

The 5th anniversary of the Junior Road Safety Officer scheme was celebrated with a recent event at County Hall, during which children from 12 schools were welcomed by Cllr Kate Corrigan.

As part of the celebrations, local author Adam Bushnell taught the children how to create Shakespearean sonnets and how to rap in iambic pentameter in order to deliver road safety advice in an entertaining way.

The schools attending the celebration were Delves Lane Primary School, Consett; Ebchester Primary School, Consett; Shotley Bridge Primary School; Burnside Primary School, Stanley; Cockton Hill Junior School; Copeland Road Primary School; St Anne’s CE Primary School; St Wilfrid’s RCVA Primary School; Wheatley Hill Primary School; Edmondsley Primary School; Nettlesworth Primary School; and Timothy Hackworth Primary School.

Cllr Katie Corrigan said, “The children came up with some incredibly creative and informative sonnets, all of which included super-sensible safety information. They clearly feel a positive sense of responsibility and are taking action towards their peers to relay important life lessons.”

“We were thrilled to award older pupils with JRSO certificates to thank them for their good work and working with our teams to keep young people safe.”

To learn more about Durham County Council’s road safety schemes, please go to http://www.durham.gov.uk/schoolroadsafetyschemes.

You can see a video of the kids performing their raps and sonnets here.

(The featured image shows the children performing their sonnets.)


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DavidSunderland
David writes about local news, thought provoking stories, and yearns to capture the community spirit with a unique writing style.

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