Keeping Safe
Road Safety Week runs from 19 to 25 November 2018
by Janice Ross
Suitable for Reception / Key Stage 1
Aims
To use Road Safety Week to consider the importance of keeping safe on the road.
Preparation and materials
- You will need six large pieces of card with the following opposites written on either side:
- hot/cold
- big/small
- fast/slow
- heavy/light
- dangerous/safe
- stop/go - Have available the following images of traffic and the means to display them during the assembly:
- a busy London road, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yce5qykt
- traffic in a village, available at: https://tinyurl.com/ycmxs8cp
- a tractor on the road, available at: https://tinyurl.com/ybr6b4sk
- inconsiderate parking for pedestrians, available at: https://tinyurl.com/y75pls8d - Information about Road Safety Week is available at: http://www.roadsafetyweek.org/
Resources are available at: http://www.brake.org.uk/info-and-resources/resources/guide-to-teaching-road-safety - Optional: you may wish to show the YouTube video ‘Child road safety – king of the road’, in which case you will also need the means to do so. It is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAgxZ-l5pY8 (0.40 minutes long)
Assembly
- Ask the children what is meant by the word ‘opposites’.
Listen to a range of responses. - Show the children the card that has the word ‘hot’ written on it.
Ask a child to read the word on the card, and then ask what the opposite of hot would be. When the correct answer has been given, show the reverse side of the card displaying the correct answer.
Repeat this with each ‘opposite’ card.
Ask the children to think of some ‘opposite’ words of their own. - Show the images of a busy London road, traffic in a village and a tractor on the road.
Point out that one of these pictures shows a busy city and one shows a village. Whether we live in a city, town or village, we all come across lots of traffic and we need to be aware of the dangers that we face. - Ask the children what vehicles (such as cars, vans and lorries) they can spot in the pictures.
There are many large, heavy and fast vehicles in the pictures. Ask the children to think of other modes of transport that they can’t see in the pictures, such as motorbikes and bicycles. - Show the image of inconsiderate parking for pedestrians.
Ask the children to think about why cars parked like this could pose a problem.
Point out that it could be difficult for people with buggies, on mobility scooters or using walking frames to get along the pavement with all the cars parked there. It would also be difficult to cross the road because people would not be able to see clearly whether any vehicles were approaching. - Point out that most of the time, large, heavy vehicles stay on the roads and people stay on the pavements. However, people need to cross roads, so it is important that we all think about the safest way to do this.
- Ask the child with the card showing ‘dangerous’ on it to hold it up.
Ask the children to think about road dangers. Ask them to think about how they can keep safe near roads.
Listen to a range of responses.
Reinforce the appropriate answers, including:
- staying on pavements
- not running or messing about near a road
- holding an adult’s hand
- remembering to stop, look and listen
- crossing at the appropriate crossing or with the school crossing patrol officer
- wearing a fluorescent bib or jacket - Ask the child with the card showing ‘dangerous’ on it to turn it round so that it shows the word ‘safe’.
Point out that we can all be safe if we are sensible and think carefully about our actions.
Time for reflection
Ask the children to think about their journeys to school.
Ask them to think about the things that they could do to make sure that they keep safe.
Ask a child to hold up the card with ‘stop’ and ‘go’ on either side.
Point out that taking the time to ‘stop’ and think will help us all to avoid accidents and stay safe. We should only ever ‘go’ across a road when we are absolutely sure that it is safe to do so.
Prayer
Dear God,
We ask that you will help us to keep safe on the roads.
Help us to use our eyes, our ears and all of our senses.
Help us to remember what we have been taught, and to be aware of all of the other road users.
Amen.
Song/music
Optional: you may wish to show the YouTube video ‘Child road safety – king of the road’, which is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAgxZ-l5pY8
If you have the music available for the song ‘Skip to my Lou’, you may wish to display the following words and encourage the children to sing them.
When to stop and when to go:
These are the things we need to know.
When using roads and pavements, too,
We will keep safe, both me and you.
Stay on the pavement, hold someone’s hand,
Press and wait till you see the green man.
Or look for a big yellow lollipop:
The person holding that makes the traffic stop.
Remember there are things we must share:
On the roads, always be aware
That cars and buses and lorries, too
Are faster and bigger than me and you.
When to stop and when to go:
These are the things we need to know.
When using roads and pavements, too,
We will keep safe, both me and you.
