290 pupils aged nine to 11 years from 145 schools across Hampshire are training to become Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) this October.
The JRSO scheme is run through primary and junior schools, with the school recruiting up to two pupil volunteers to act as road safety champions and take the lead in promoting road safety among their peers, through initiatives such as games, competitions and special assemblies.
This is the sixth year the JRSO scheme has been running in Hampshire, and each year more schools have come on board. New for this year is a blogging facility for the JRSOs to share their work, ask questions and to support their projects.
The interactive training day begins with former JRSOs showing examples of their work. This is followed by four creative workshops covering creating a radio ad, t-shirt design, a road safety quiz, and a road safety toolkit.
There is also a workshop to help teachers plan road safety into the National Curriculum.
Councillor Seán Woodward, Hampshire County Council, said: "JRSOs play a crucial role in schools by teaching their friends the importance of road safety and what they can do to keep themselves safe.
"It also aims to give children a good grounding in road safety education as they prepare for the transition to secondary school – the point at which many children begin to travel independently for the first time."
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