Arriva 'Getting to School' pack takes top road safety award

Bus company Arriva has won a top road safety award for itsinnovative work with schoolchildren.

In an award ceremony in Kenilworth, Arriva’s‘Getting to School’ pack took the top prize in the‘Road Safety in the Community’ category at the BrakeFleet Safety Forum Awards for Excellence.

The packs are designed to provide primary school teachers ofchildren at Key Stage 2 (aged 8 to 11) with educational resourcematerial directly linked to the National Curriculum. Thepack’s resources include information to help teacherscommunicate important messages to children about using busessafely. They include a range of activities for Mathematics,English, Geography and Personal, Social & Health Education andCitizenship, helping teachers provide exciting lessons for theirpupils using bus travel as the stimulus.

Schools have been able to download the pack from Arriva’sdedicated website www.arrivaschools.co.ukand the response from primary schools around the UK has beenextremely positive, with hundreds of packs being downloaded in thefirst few weeks after the launch.

David Shadbolt, marketing manager for Arriva UK Regions, whocollected the award, said: “Safety is Arriva’s numberone priority and we work very hard with schools throughout thecountry to promote the safe use of buses. Arriva recognisesthe importance that buses play in the local community, especiallyfor young children who are reaching the age where they start to usethe bus on their own for the first time.”

The ‘Getting to School’ pack invites children toexamine different ways of getting to school, look at the contrastbetween different environments through the different types ofplaces buses go, learn about money using bus fares and change asexamples, learn how to use a bus timetable and discuss theimportance of responsible road use.

Brake’s fundraising manager, Katie Shephard, said:“Arriva’s work to help children understand vital roadsafety messages which help cut the number of injuries and deaths ofyoung people on our roads is a great example of what can be done byworking closely with education and safety specialists. TheBrake award recognises that Arriva’s ‘Getting toSchool’ pack could help save children’slives.”

Interest in the packs has not been restricted to just the UKhowever. David added: “Arriva’s education andsafety initiative can now claim to be truly global as packs havenow been downloaded by schools from as far afield as NewZealand.”

In addition, at the same awards Walter Herring, risk manager forArriva North East, was highly commended in the ‘Road RiskManager of Year’ category.

Notes: To download a copy of the ‘Gettingto School’ pack visit www.arrivaschools.co.ukor for more information about the packs email education@arriva.co.uk